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REINCAR-NATION. 


—  A  — 


Study  of  the  Human  Soul 

IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  RE-BIRTH, 

EVOLUTION,  POST-MORTEM  STATES,  THE 

COMPOUND  NATURE  OF  MAN,  HYPNOTISM,  ETC. 

BY 

JEROME  A.  ANDERSON,  M.  D.,  F.  T.  S. 


[  It  is  decisive  of  the  question  whether  the  Soul  exists  if  among  the  activities 
and  emotional  states  of  our  being  there  are  to  be  found  suck  as 
do  not  belong  to  our  bodies."— 


FOURTH   EDITION 


THE    LOTUS    PUBLISHING    COMPANY, 
1170  Market  St.,  San  Francisco,  CaL 

Tke  Path  Office,       •       -       144  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 


MAY,    1896. 


COPYRIGHT,  1892, 
BY   JEROME    A.   ANDERSON, 

I  1 70  Market  Street, 
SAN  FRANCISCO,    -    -    CALIFORNIA. 


to 


BY    A    GRATEFUL,   STUDENT. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


THE  exhaustion  in  a  few  months  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work  is  a  most 
gratifying  evidence  of  the  wide  interest  now  taken  in  Theosophy,  but  it 
places  the  writer  under  the  necessity  of  issuing  a  second  with  but  little  ad- 
vantage from  adverse  or  friendly  criticism,  or  from  farther  thought  and  study 
upon  that  portion  of  Theosophical  Philosophy  with  which  it  deals.  A  few 
points  will  be  further  elucidated,  and  ambiguous  sentences  cleared  up,  and 
the  endeavor  made  to  drop  something  of  purely  technical  phraseology.  The 
body  of  the  work,  however,  must  remain  substantially  the  same. 

J.  A.  A. 


PREFACE. 

npHESE  pages  are  intended  to  present,  in  as  concise  a  form  as  possible,  an 
1  outline  of  certain  phenomena  in  nature,  together  with  logical  and  philo- 
sophical deductions  therefrom,  which  go  to  prove,  first,  the  existence  of  a  soul, 
and,  second,  the  repeated  incarnation  of  this  soul  in  physical  bodies.  No 
phenomena  will  be  considered  except  such  as  have  been  fully  verified  and 
accepted  as  a  portion  of  the  armamentarium  of  modern  science.  That  there 
are  vast  classes  of  genuine  phenomena  not  acknowledged  as  genuine  by  science 
is  well  known;  and,  although  fully  entitled  to  an  appeal  to  these  in  support  of 
our  position,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  pass  them  by,  and  to  meet  modern 
scientific  agnosticism  entirely  upon  the  territory  of  its  own  facts.  It  is  believed 
that  by  thus  "  carrying  the  war  into  Kgypt"  more  good  may  be  accomplished 
in  directing  attention  towards  the  higher  spiritual  aspects  of  these  phenomena 
than  if  the  argument  were  advanced  into  disputed  domains.  This  completely 
bars  access  to  an  immense  mass  of  so-called  spiritualistic  phenomena  which, 
while  very  far  from  establishing  the  fact  of  spirit  communication  in  the  man- 
ner claimed  by  spiritualists,  are  still  of  great  importance  as  illustrating  many 
of  the  lower  psychic  faculties  of  man,  and  his  essential  independence  of  his 
body  in  their  production.  The  numerous  marvels  of  many  countries,  and 
especially  of  India,  have  also  been  omitted;  for  they,  although  partly  accepted 
by  scientists,  who  fancy  they  find  in  "  glamour"  and  "collective  hallucination" 
an  explanation,  are  still  an  unclassified  residuum,  whose  scientific  explanation 


PREFACE.  V 

itself  needs  to  be  explained  even  more  than  the  phenomena  for  which  it 
attempts  to  account.  In  short,  the  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  establish  the 
fact  of  the  existence  and  repeated  rebirth  of  the  soul  by  an  appeal  to  logic  and 
reason  alone,  based  upon  phenomena  of  such  universal  and  every-day  experi- 
ence that  all  who  choose  may  verify  each  successive  step  taken,  or  phenomenon 
to  which  reference  is  had. 

The  writer  was  bitterly  antagonized  by  the  idea  of  reincarnation  when  he 
first  became  familiar  with  it  in  Theosophic  literature;  but,  after  careful  and 
earnest  attempts  to  arrive  at  a  philosophic  or  scientific  hypothesis  in  harmony 
with  natural  phenomena  which  would  render  this  view  unnecessary,  he  was 
compelled  by  sheer  force  of  facts  and  logic  to  accept  it.  The  trains  of  reason- 
ing followed,  and  the  phenomena  appealed  to  are  outlined  in  these  pages. 
They  are  issued  in  the  hope  of  aiding  others  who  may  have  become,  as  the 
writer  had,  biased  toward  materialistic  views  by  a  one-sided  "scientific"  edu- 
cation, to  recognize  this  grand  truth.  The  attention  of  inquirers  is  also  called 
to  the  scholarly  work  of  the  late  E.  D.  Walker,  and  to  the  occult,  intuitional, 
and  philosophic  Manual  by  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  both  being  upon  the  same 
subject— Reincarnation.  J.  A.  A. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THB  NATURE  AND  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SOUL.— The  Three  Absolute  Hyposta- 
ses — Consciousness — Substance — Force 9 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  PHYSIOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE  OP  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  SOUL.— 
No  Physiological  Basis  for  the  Unity  of  Consciousness — Memory — Feel- 
ing, Etc. — Mechanical  Motion  Cannot  Originate  Sensation 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE  OF  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  SOUL. — 
The  Nature  of  Dream — Trance — Clairvoyance — Thought  Transference, 
Etc 31 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL. — The  Unit  of  Consciousness — from  Atom 
to  God  by  the  Widening  of  the  Conscious  Area  Through  Experience, 
Etc 44 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  INDIVIDUALIZATION  OF  THE  SOUL. — Centers  of  Consciousness  Freed 
by  Pralayas — The  Cycle  of  Necessity 59 

CHAPTER  V. 

REINCARNATION — PHILOSOPHIC  AND  LOGICAL  EVIDENCE. — Failure  of 
One-Birth  Theories — Life  Only  to  be  Explained  Philosophically  by 
Reincarnation 66 

CHAPTER  VI. 

REINCARNATION—THE  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE.— Bulbs — Seeds— Meta- 
morphosis of  Insects — Genius — Idiocy — Prodigies,  Etc 78 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THB  COMPOSITE  NATURE  OF  THE  SOUL.— The  Seven  Aspects  of  the  One 
Center  of  Consciousness 89 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THB  REINCARNATING  EGO. — The  Nature  and  Functions  of  the  Higher 
Ego  9s 


CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THB  PERSONALITY. — The  Animal  Man — How  Related  to  the  Divine  Man  112 

CHAPTER  X. 

POST-MORTEM  STATUS  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.—  Devachan— Kama  Loca  and 
Nirvana — Nature  of 120 

CHAPTER  XL 

HYPNOTISM  AND  THE  HUMAN  SOUL.-— Hypnotic  Processes  and  States  of 
Consciousness 140 

CHAPTER  XII. 

OBJECTIONS  To  REINCARNATION.— Loss  of  Memory  Explained— Other 
Objections  Answered 158 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

KARMA,— The  I<aw  of  Cause  and  Efiect  on  all  Planes 165 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

HTHICAL  CONCLUSIONS. — 178 

APPENDIX  A. 

REINCARNATION  AS  APPLIED  TO  THE  SEX  PROBLEM.— 183 

APPENDIX  B. 
EM  BRYOLOGY,  AND  REINCARNATION. — The  Nutrition  of  the  Fetus 188 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  NATURE  AND  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SOUL. 

T}  ECOGNIZING  that  the  finite  can  never  contain  nor  comprehend 
Jf\  the  Infinite,  and  that  behind  all  finite  manifestation  there  is 
necessarily  an  Infinite,  CAUSELESS  CAUSE,  upon  which  specu- 
lation, for  the  reason  just  given,  is  useless,  still,  the  Aspects 
of  this  Causeless  Cause,  as  manifested  in  Time  and  Space,  are 
legitimate  subjects  for  examination,  and  afford  a  stable,  and  in- 
deed the  only,  basis  upon  which  finite  intellect  can  construct  a 
Philosophy  of  Life  and  of  the  Universe. 

There  are  three  Aspects  of  that  which  may  be  termed  the  Abso- 
lute, or  Causeless  Cause,  which  are  immutably  associated  in  all 
finite  or  conditioned  existence — appear  to  be  a  common  crux  into 
which  all  phenomena  may  be  resolved.  Although  two  of  these 
are  at  apparently  opposite  poles  of  Being,  while  the  third  would 
seem  to  have  no  necessarily  real  connection  with  either,  yet  there 
is  no  manifestation  in  which  all  three  are  not  associated  in  some 
degree,  so  that  it  becomes  evident  that  we  perceive  in  them  but 
differing  facets  or  Aspects  of  the  One  Reality.  To  our  percep- 
tion, these  three  Aspects  appear  as  Consciousness,  Substance,  and 
Motion,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  the  recognition,  not  only  of 
all  three  but  of  their  eternal  association  with  one  another  in  the 
Manifested  Universe,  and  with  the  Causeless  Cause  in  the  Un- 
manifested,  this  Study  of  the  Soul  will  proceed. 

The  term  "Soul"  may  be  defined  as  a  vehicle  for  consciousness. 
The  latter,  as  one  of  the  triple  aspects  of  the  Unknowable  or 
Absolute,  must  be  regarded  as  Infinite.  Anything  which,  by  limit- 
ing this  infinity,  enables  consciousness  to  manifest  upon  finite 
and  knowable  planes  is  therefore  classed  as  Soul.  The  Universal 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

Soul,  under  this  definition,  would  be  the  vehicle  for  Universal 
— not  Absolute — Consciousness;  the  human  soul,  the  vehicle  for 
the  finite  manifestation  of  that  limitation  of  the  Infinite  which  we 
recognize  as  human,  or  self-consciousness. 

The  material  aspect  of  the  Unknowable  seems  to  be  the  means 
by  which  Infinite  Consciousness  is  enabled  to  manifest  finitely. 
Hence,  all  Soul  has  its  ultimate  essence  in  this  material  or  Sub- 
stance-root of  the  Unknowable,  and  is  of  a  material  nature.  But 
as  the  three  Aspect-Roots  are  eternally  associated,  one  must  not 
fall  into  the  error  of  taking  a  too  materialistic  view  of  Soul.  If  it 
is  the  material  vehicle  of  consciousness  in  one  aspect,  it  is  in  an- 
other— by  virtue  of  its  being  incapable  of  dissociation  from  this — 
consciousness  itself.  It  is  only  because  of  philosophic  necessities 
and  of  certain  phenomena  of  consciousness  upon  the  material 
plane  that  Soul  is  thus  more  intimately  associated  with  the  Sub- 
stance-Aspect of  the  Unknowable  Rootless  Root  than  with  the 
Conscious-Aspect. 

A  human  soul,  then,  is  a  center  of  consciousness  having  its  ori- 
gin in  Infinite  Consciousness,  and  limited  and  brought  into  self- 
conscious  relations  with  itself  and  the  Universe  by  a  material 
vehicle.  In  its  inmost  essence,  this  material  vehicle  is  derived  from 
the  indestructible  Substance- Aspect  of  the  Unknowable;  substance 
of  so  refined  and  ethereal  a  nature  as  to  utterly  transcend  aM 
those  properties  and  qualities  with  which  we  ordinarily  associate 
matter,  and  which,  because  of  this  and  because  it  is  incapable  of 
weight,  measurement,  or  even  comparison  with  the  matter  of  this 
plane,  has  led  to  the  formulating  of  the  absurdly  unscientific  and 
unphilosophic  materialistic  hypotheses  and  philosophies  of  to-day. 
Instead  of  following,  by  correspondence  and  analogy,  the  retreat  of 
matter  into  those  realms  which  for  us  are  at  present  subjective, 
both  modern  science  and  so-called  materialistic  philosophy  have 
failed  to  recognize  the  philosophic  necessity  for  that  Unity  which 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

must  underlie  every  aspect  of  nature,  and  have  in  consequence 
utterly  failed  to  bridge  the  illusionary  chasm  which  seems  to 
divide  spirit — or  consciousness — from  matter.  It  is,  of  course, 
impossible  to  carry  molecular  physics  grossly  and  bodily  over  into 
conscious  realms;  but  it  is  quite  possible,  and  the  only  philosophic 
procedure,  to  carry  the  molecular  laws  of  the  conservation  of  force 
and  the  correlation  of  energy  over  into  the  realms  of  (compara- 
tively) pure  consciousness.  By  so  doing,  we  at  once  secure  a 
firm  and  stable  foundation  for  our  philosophic  superstructure. 
There  is  no  longer  a  necessity  for  "scientific"  laws  and  hypothe- 
ses for  one  kingdom  of  nature,  and  quite  a  different  and  conflict- 
ing code  for  another,  as  is  the  case  with  modern  scientific  attempts 
to  deal  with  mind  and  matter  as  though  they  were  totally  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  elements  in  the  Universe.  The  same  lack  of  an 
unifying  base  is  also  painfully  apparent  in  dealing  with  purely 
physical  sciences;  as,  for  example,  in  the  disagreements  of  geo- 
logic and  astronomic  calculations  of  the  age  of  the  earth. 

It  follows  from  the  above  that  "Soul"  must  be  a  generic  term, 
and  "Souls"  capable  of  infinite  gradation  and  classification.  From 
the  anima  mundi,  the  "Over-Soul"  of  Emerson,  down  to  the  uni- 
fying center  of  consciousness  which  makes  possible  the  molecular 
combination  forming  the  structure  of  the  humblest  amaba — aye, 
down  to  that  diffuse  attraction  which  combines  even  inorganic 
nature  into  form — the  term  "Soul"  applies.  For  the  material 
Universe,  from  our  puerile,  finite  point  of  view  at  least,  would 
seem  to  be  a  vast  evolutionary  laboratory  constructed  in  Space 
and  Time,  into  which  enters  pure  Spirit,  or  Consciousness,  and 
which,  forever  disappearing  as  such,  eternally  reappears  in  endless 
intelligent  variations  and  transmutations  of  form.  Form  is  but 
the  result  of  Infinite  Consciousness  seeking  finite  expression  in 
matter.  Every  tree  is  a  materialized  or  externalized  idea;  every 
flower,  a  sculptured  poem;  every  appearance  of  form,  a  passing 


xil  INTRODUCTION. 

from  Infinite  Ideation  into  finite  expression  through  finite  limita- 
tion :  and  all  this  under  law  so  absolute,  so  inviolable,  that  a  sin- 
gle exception  to  or  escape  from  its  universal  domain  is  unthinka- 
ble. This  law,  the  one  stable  bond  which  unites  the  knowable  to 
the  Unknowable,  the  finite  to  the  Infinite,  is  that  of  Cause  and 
Effect — the  Karma  of  Eastern  philosophy  and  modern  Theosophy . 
Its  objective  arc  appears  under  the  guise  of  Evolution;  its  subject- 
ive arc,  when  not  entirely  ignored,  is  known  as  Involution.  An 
involution  of  spirit,  or  consciousness,  equals  an  evolution  of  matter 
into  form.  "Soul,"  therefore,  in  the  abstract,  stands  for  and  is 
the  Substance-Aspect  of  the  Unknowable,  by  means  of  which 
both  involution  and  evolution  of  the  Conscious-Aspect,  or 
"Spirit, "is  accomplished. 

Yet,  throughout  this  work,  by  the  term  "  human  soul"  is  meant 
a  self-conscious  center  of  Consciousness — not  a  center  of  Sub- 
stance. The  latter  limits,  defines,  and  makes  possible  the  exist- 
ence of  this  individualized  center;  but  while  an  absolutely  neces- 
sary element,  this  necessity  would  seem  somewhat  mechanical. 
The  Conscious-Aspect,  the  "  I,"  the  Unit  of  Consciousness,  by 
which  alone  the  finite  universe  may  be  measured  and  known,  is 
the  supreme  essential.  If  it  be,  apparently,  confused  with  its  rel- 
atively lower  material  vehicle  by  speaking  of  it  as  the  human 
soul,  it  is  because  of  the  poverty  of  the  English  language  in 
accurate  metaphysical  terms,  and  also  because  it  can  not,  even  in 
thought,  be  entirely  dissociated  from  this  vehicle.  That  by  the 
human  soul  is  really  understood  a  center  of  self-consciousness, 
and  not  its  substance  base,  will  become  plainly  apparent  when,  in 
the  course  of  this  study,  we  shall  find  this  center  using  "souls,"  or 
vehicles,  composed  of  varying  differentiations  of  Substance, 
accordingly  as  it  functions  under  objective  or — to  us — subjective 
conditions. 


REINCARNATION. 


A   STUDY   OF   THE    SOUL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    PHYSIOLOGICAL    EVIDENCE    OF    THE    EXIST- 
ENCE   OF    THE    SOUL. 

<^  STUDY  of  the  Soul,  or  of  those  phenomena  of  consciousness 
^^  usually  classed  under  this  head,  must  logically  be  prefaced 
by  proof  that  a  "soul"  really  exists.  Some  doubt  arises  as  to 
whether  this  can  best  be  accomplished  by  an  examination  of  those 
general  evolutionary  processes  which  lead  up  to  the  human  soul 
as  a  necessary  sequence,  or  whether  the  phenomena  of  human 
consciousness  itself  shall  be  first  considered.  As  appeal  will  be 
taken  to  both  classes  of  phenomena,  it  has  been  thought  best  to 
begin  with  the  latter  method,  leaving  the  broader  and  more  phil- 
osophic generalizations  of  evolution  to  follow.  The  evidence  of  a 
soul,  then,  will  be  sought  first  in  Human  Physiology. 

Without  cumbering  the  argument  with  histological,  anatomical, 
or  even  physiological  details,  to  be  found  in  the  numerous  text- 
books upon  these  subjects,  let  it  suffice  to  state  generally  that 
these  and  allied  sciences  prove  that  the  human  body  is  a  mech- 
anism constructed  and  controlled  from  within  without,  by  a 
central  energy  called  variously  "mind,"  "soul,"  "spirit,"  or 
"  Ego,"  according  to  the  inclination  or  bias  of  the  writer.  The 
existence  of  this  central  energy  is  disputed  by  no  one;  the  issue 
being  as  to  the  relation  it  sustains  to  the  body.  Broadly  defined, 
Materialism  declares  the  mind  or  soul  to  be  the  product  of  the 
molecular  activities  going  on  within  the  brain ;  or,  if  not  a  direct 
product,  at  least  a  concomitant  of  these.  Under  this  view,  it 
must  necessarily  cease  to  exist  when  the  brain  molecules  cease 


14  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

their  activities.  To  account  for  the  appearance  of  a  conscious 
factor  as  an  outcome  of  purely  mechanical  motion  among  mole- 
cules, it  declares  this  to  be  a  "property"  of  matter,  capable  of 
being  exhibited  under  certain  conditions  similarly  as  electricity 
may  be  made  to  manifest  its  presence  under  proper  excitation. 
Spiritualism  takes  the  directly  opposite  view.  It  declares  that, 
while  it  is  true  that  molecular  activities  are  the  counterparts  ot 
conscious  experiences  in  molecularly  constructed  bodies,  the  rela- 
tion of  effect  is  entirely  upon  the  material  side;  that  the  mind  or 
soul  is  causal,  and  quite  superior  to  and  independent  of  the  body, 
except  as  this  is  a  mechanism  of  sense  organs  constructed  and 
synthesized  by  it,  in  order  to  relate  its  higher  consciousness  to 
material  conditions.  There  can  thus  be  no  compromise;  one  or 
the  other  theory  errs. 

A  little  examination  makes  it  evident  that  all  thought,  emotion, 
willing,  or  feeling  arise  from  and  in  the  inner  recesses  of  our  being, 
and  are  then  reflected  outwards  in  speech  or  action,  or  remain  as 
unexpressed,  subjective  ideas  or  feelings.  It  is  quite  true  that 
this  inner  arousing  is  apparently  due  primarily  to  external  stimuli 
alone,  and  that  all  through  life  external  impressions  transmuted 
into  sensations  form  a  much  larger  basis  for  even  the  highest 
intellectual  life  than  would  be  suspected  except  upon  a  searching 
analysis.  But  ex  nihilo  nihil  fit;  and  if  there  were  not  present  in 
the  body  a  potential  center  of  consciousness  capable  of  being 
aroused,  external  stimuli  might  knock  for  eternal  ages  at  the  door 
of  life  without  awakening  a  conscious  response. 

Here,  at  the  first  step,  then,  the  battle  for  the  existence  of  the 
soul  begins.  For  when  physiologists  or  psychologists  say, 
though  ever  so  glibly  and  confidently,  that  an  external  stimulus 
has  been  converted  through  nervous  "  shock"  into  a  "  sense" 
impression,  they  are  assuming  to  explain  a  process  of  which  they 
have  absolutely  no  knowledge,  and  which  no  microscope  nor  cult- 
ure chamber  has  ever  demonstrated,  nor  can  ever  hops  to 
demonstrate.  For,  "  if  by  nervous  shock  be  meant  a  physical 
event,  the  break  between  such  shock  and  the  nerve  commotion 
which  is  its  antecedent  is  absolutely  impassable.  No  physical 
en  rgy,  under  the  general  laws  of  its  conservation  and  cor- 
relation, can  pass  this  break";*  no  lightly  leaping  across  a  chasm 

*Ladd's  Physiological  Psychology,  p.  628,  to  which  magnificent  work  I  am  more  indebted 
in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter  than  any  quotation  marks  can  adequately  indicate. 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  1$ 

proves  its  non-existence.  In  sound,  for  example,  an  entirely 
mechanical  and  physical  shock  has  been  transmuted  into  terms  of 
consciousness  utterly  unlike  its  cause.  Until  it  can  be  shown 
both  how  and  why  mechanical  motion  becomes  sensation,  two 
factors  must  be  assumed.  These  are  the  receiver  and  transmitter 
of  the  nervous  shock  or  commotion,  and  the  inner  observer  of 
this  commotion,  as  it  records  itself  in  molecular  agitation  or 
changes  within  the  brain. 

It  will  be  cheerfully  admitted  that  this  inner  observer  is  quite 
dependent  upon  the  physical  apparatus  for  sensation  upon  and 
communication  with  the  material  universe,  but  this  dependence 
in  no  way  argues  its  non-existence  as  an  entity,  or  the  non- 
possibility  of  its  possessing  much  higher  powers  upon  its  own 
spiritual  plane  than  its  sense  organs  enable  it  to  display.  As  has 
been  beautifully  pointed  out  by  Prof.  Ladd: 

"  Beings  do  not  lose  their  reality,  or  characteristic  nature,  or  value  in  the 
universe  of  Being,  because  they  are  causally  connected  with  other  beings. 
On  the  contrary,  none  but  real  beings  can  thus  be  connected  with  each  other; 
none  but  real  beings  can  act  and  be  acted  upon.  The  so-called  causal  con- 
nection is  no  bondage  of  such  nature  as  to  destroy  the  nature  of  the  beings 
which  act  under  it.  Only  beings  that  have  natures  of  their  own  can  be  caus- 
ally connected.  In  other  words,  all  that  appears  to  us  as  a  causal  relation 
between  the  objects  of  our  experience  is,  ultimately  considered,  due  to  no 
material  spur  or  whip  which  urges,  or  band  that  represses,  as  though  one  kind 
of  real  being  could  thus  dominate  and  subdue  another.  No  atom  acts  without 
being  acted  on;  what  it  does  depends  both  upon  what  it  is  and  also  upon  how 
it  stands  related  to  other  atoms."* 

The  break  between  physical  motion  and  conscious  sensation, 
if  there  really  be  one,  is  between  the  sentient  atom  and  the  phys- 
ical molecule.  And  Prof.  Ladd  is  therefore  quite  correct  in 
insisting  that: 

"No  relation  exists  between  these  two  kinds  of  beings  [soul  and  body] 
which  can  be  represented  as  an  interchange  of  physical  energy,  under  the  law 
of  the  conservation  and  correlation  of  such  energy.  This  fact,  however, 
affords  no  objection  to  our  recognizing  a  true  causal  connection  between  the 
two,  unless  we  are  ready  to  insist  upon  the  monstrous  claim  that  modern 
physical  science  is  entitled  to  affirm  the  impossibility  of  any  interaction  (or 
conditional  action)  taking  place  in  the  universe  otherwise  than  between 
material  atoms  under  the  aforesaid  law."f 

•Loc.  Cit.,  p.  661.    tLoc.  x:it.,  p.  663,  et  seq. 


1 6  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

Yet  the  soul  is  not  utterly  unrelated  to  the  body  by  the  actual 
transmission  of  energy;  for  were  this  the  case  a  physical 
response  to  the  will  would  be  impossible.  There  is  a  transmission 
of  energy  from  the  soul  to  the  body,  actual  and  real,  but  it  does 
not  consist  in  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  physical  force.  The 
soul  may  be  said  to  use  modes  of  etheric  force,  for  its  material 
base  is  composed  necessarily  of  these  inner  and  more  potent 
states  of  matter.  These  forces  the  soul  liberates  in  willing,  with 
the  result  of  etheric  motion;  and  this,  while  not  interchanging,  is 
the  cause  of  a  corresponding  molecular  motion  in  the  brain.  It 
is  thus  true  that  each  cycle  of  energy  is  unrelated  in  the  way  of 
the  conservation  or  correlation  of  the  energy  of  one  in  that  of 
the  other;  for  each  completes  its  cycle  in  its  own  proper  field  of 
action,  and  no  mode  of  force  belonging  to  one  plane  passes  over 
from  that  to  another  But  each  can  none  the  less  act  upon  the 
other;  and,  in  the  case  of  the  soul,  the  terrible  inter-etheric 
nature  of  the  energy  used  may  be  seen  in  instances  of  the  sud- 
den death  of  the  body  from  fright,  anger  or  strong  emotion. 
Physical  force  and  soul,  or  will-force,  touch  each  other's  boun- 
daries, but  the  very  rebound  keeps  each  acting  in  its  own  proper 
domain.  Yet  this  touch  is  actual,  and  sets  up  motion  in  the 
other;  though,  as  correctly  pointed  out  by  Prof.  Ladd,  nothing 
physical  passes  from  the  one  to  the  other.  Nor  does  anything 
molecular  pass  when  one  moving  billiard  ball  strikes  another,  yet 
the  latter  is  none  the  less  set  in  motion.  In  the  same  manner 
there  is  no  portion  of  the  manifested  cosmos  utterly  unrelated  to 
others.  Effects  may  pass  though  causes  do  not. 

The  human  nervous  system  is  plainly  a  mechanism  to  relate 
entities  thus  acting  under  differing  conditions  and  using  dissimilar 
modes  of  force.  It  has  its  end-organs  to  receive  impacts  from 
without,  or  those  from  the  material  world ;  its  system  of  nerve- 
wires  to  conduct,  not  the  shocks,  but  certain  effects  of  these 
entirely  unlike  them  in  essence,  to  the  brain  and  minor  ganglia; 
and,  lastly,  these  ganglionic  collections  of  gray  matter,  to  receive 
and  to  send  out  counter-shocks  or  commotions  to  other  appro- 
priate end-organs,  which  cause  motion  in  response  to  such 
stimuli.  Yet  in  this,  which  seems  so  entirely  mechanical,  there 
has  entered  a  factor  which  has  hopelessly  removed  it  from  the 
domain  of  material  physics,  and  which  demonstrates  that  by  means 
of  the  highly  complex  nervous  organism  the  body  has  beeu 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  I? 

related  to  the  pole  of  spirit,  or  consciousness.  Motion  has  been 
translated  into  terms  of  sensation — a  thing  unthinkable  except  as 
the  act  of  a  conscious  entity.  Motion  can  not  become  sensation; 
it  can  only  be  recognized  as  motion  by  a  conscious  entity,  and 
conscious  inferences  or  information  deduced  therefrom.  A 
billiard  ball  may  be  made  to  strike  another,  and  this  still  another; 
but  no  synthesizing  power  arises  out  of  the  original  impact  or 
resulting  motion.  Nor  could  such  power  arise  though  force 
enough  were  used  to  keep  the  whole  set  caroming  among  each 
other  for  ages.  Logic  and  reason  absolutely  require  the  presence 
of  the  conscious  factor  to  take  note  of  the  molecular  commotion 
caused  by  the  physical  impact,  and  to  originate  upon  its  own 
part  new  and  appropriate  molecular  agitations  in  response,  in  the 
manner  indicated. 

There  must  be,  then,  a  conscious  entity  moving  both  billiard 
balls  and  brain  molecules,  else  neither  could  ever  synthesize 
themselves  into  orderly  sequences.  That  there  are  certain  com- 
plex responses  continually  taking  place,  which  are  even  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  our  existence,  without  rising  to  our  brain  or 
mind  consciousness,  does  not  weaken,  but  rather  strengthens,  the 
argument  for  such  an  entity.  For  the  greater  the  complexity  of 
the  mechanism,  the  greater  the  necessity  for  an  intelligent,  syn- 
thesizing center  of  consciousness  to  control  this  complexity. 
And,  as  evolution  shows,  these  minor  centers  of  activity  are 
lower  entities,  in  a  universe  which  is  but  embodied  consciousness 
of  some  degree,  working  their  way  upward  in  the  scale  of  becom- 
ing, and  aided  very  materially  by  this  association  with  a 
superior  directing  and  controlling  energy. 

The  psychical  experiences  arising  from  physical  energy  acting 
upon  the  periphery  of  the  body  are  too  unlike  that  energy  to  be 
related  directly  thereto.  There  are  many  physiological  processes 
necessary  before  the  energy  rises  above  the  threshold  of  con- 
sciousness as  a  psychical  experience.  What  these  are  physi- 
ology can  not  explain,  and  psychology  is  equally  helpless.  At 
the  physical  side  they  may  be  first  simply  dynamic,  and  then 
complex  or  chemical;  at  the  psychic  threshold,  they  must  be  the 
perceptions  of  a  conscious,  cognizing  entity.  In  man  alone  this 
entity  is  self-conscious,  but  an  entity  of  some  degree  is  none  the 
less  present  in  every  form  of  organic  life  as  its  synthesizer  and 
organizer.  That  even  in  man  the  relation  between  this  inner 


1 8  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

cognizer  and  the  form  through  which  it  acts  is  intimate  and  mu- 
tually dependent,  goes  without  saying.  The  immediate  agent  in 
this  intimacy  is  undoubtedly  the  mechanism  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem, the  duty  of  which  is  to  concatenate  or  synthesize  the  sense 
impressions  arising  out  of  the  innumerable  physical  impacts 
upon  the  periphery  of  the  body.  But  a  mechanism  requires  a 
mechanic,  and  this  is  plainly  the  inner  soul.  There  can  be  no 
equality  between  a  mere  mechanism,  as  such,  and  the  intelligence 
which  directs  it.  In  the  case  of  man,  too,  the  mechanism  does 
not  express  the  entire  powers  of  its  inner  mover,  which  of  itself 
quite  disproves  the  materialistic  theory,  however  much  we  might 
otherwise  be  inclined  to  accept  it.  There  is  positively  no  phys- 
ical equivalent  possible  for  any  of  the  higher  faculties.  What 
particular  motion  among  the  molecules  of  the  brain  can  be  post- 
ulated as  the  physical  equivalent  and  causal  antecedent  of  our 
conceptions  of  justice,  of  truth,  of  moral  obligation?  The 
feeblest  mind  revolts  against  such  a  crass  conception  of  its  native 
powers.  Perception  and  sensation  may  be  conceived  of  as 
arising  out  of  physical  correlates,  but  no  such  correlate  can  be 
conceived  of  the  being  who  moves  about,  as  it  were,  among 
these,  selecting  this  one  and  rejecting  that.  The  physical  brain 
is  limited  to  motion  only ;  it  can  not  choose  its  own  mode  of 
motion,  even. 

Of  these  powers,  which  even  the  wildest  materialism  can  not 
connect  with  any  physical  process,  the  unity  of  consciousness  is 
perhaps  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the  existence  of  a  soul. 
Unity  is  unique  in  consciousness;  it  is  undefinable,  unapproach- 
able; yet  none  the  less  it  IS;  and  every  act,  thought,  emotion, 
willing,  or  feeling  is,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  built  upon  and 
referred  to  this  underlying  unit — the  "I  am  I."  All  the  myriad 
states  of  consciousness  are  recognized  by  this  "I"  as  its  own. 
The  states,  indeed,  may  result  from  external  causes  in  nature,  or 
internal,  within  the  organism;  but  the  "I,"  the  Unit  of  conscious- 
ness, the  synthesizer  of  them  all,  has  no  such  relation.  It  is,  in 
truth,  a  reflection  of  that  incomprehensible  Unity  which  is  One 
and  yet  All,  at  the  dawn  of  a  manvantara.*  No  number  of  suc- 
cessive states  of  consciousness  can  constitute  the  unity  which 

*Manvantara — the  manifestation  of  a  phenomenal  universe.  As  all  existence  proceeds  in 
cycles,  even  universes  appear  and  disappear  under  this  law,  a  period  represented  in 
Brahmanical  writings  by  fifteen  places  of  figures. 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL    EVIDENCE.  19 

synthesizes  and  connects  them  all.  The  string  of  pearls  must 
have  a  real  string,  or  they  are  but  individual  gems,  not  a 
sequence  of  them.  Nor  can  any  conceivable  number  of  mole- 
cules constitute  unity ;  for  upon  their  own  plane  each  is  a  unit, 
and  no  mere  combination  of  them  can  produce  self-conscious 
unity  upon  a  higher.  They  can  be  synthesized  by  unity  from 
above  into  a  complex  system  upon  their  own  plane,  but  even  in 
this  relation  they  are  units  grouped,  not  unity. 

Again,  the  mind  is  a  unit,  or  it  could  not  perceive  itself  at  all. 
If  it  were  composed  of  a  complexity  of  varying  states  it  would 
exist  only  as  such  variety,  and  no  one  state  would  have  any  real 
hold  upon  or  memory  of  those  past,  or  anticipation  of  those  to 
come.  We  cannot  conceive,  much  less  perceive,  any  quality  in 
nature  which  we  do  not  possess.  It  would  be  so  foreign,  so 
utterly  unrelated  to  our  consciousness,  that  we  might  owe  our  very 
being  to  it  without  being  aware  of  its  existence.  Unity  can  alone 
recognize  unity — can  alone  construct  unit  things  out  of  the 
objects  in  nature.  We  recognize  such  unit  beings  or  "things"  in 
nature;  we  could  not  bestow  this  quality  upon  them  did  we  not 
possess  it,  nor  could  we  recognize  it  at  the  base  of  our  "I  am  I" 
if  it  were  not  really  there.  As  has  been  so  forcibly  pointed  out 
by  Lotze: 

"No  twisting  of  imagination,  or  subtlety  of  argument,  can  show  how  a 
mind  not  really  one  could  appear  to  itself  at  all;  or  break  the  strength  of  the 
conviction  inwrought  into  the  very  structure  of  self-consciousness,  that  the 
real  and  spiritual  being,  which  we  call  mind,  is  not  a  fortunate  confluence  or 
phenomenal  center  of  changing  modes,  but  a  unit-being,  and  a  reason  of  all 
unity  in  whatever  becomes  the  object  of  its  thought."* 

Nor  does  this  recognition  of  a  real  unit — an  "  I  am  myself" — 
ever  vary,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Through  pain  and  grief, 
in  joy  or  gladness,  in  youth  or  age,  though  means  after  means  of 
communication  with  externals  be  cut  off  by  disease  or  old  age, 
through  every  conceivable  mental  change  of  opinion  or  belief,  the 
"I  am  I"  is  equally  undisturbed.  The  connection  between  soul 
and  body  must  be  absolutely  severed  by  insanity  (disease)  or 
death  for  this  center  of  consciousness  to  cease  to  recognize  itself 
as  a  real,  abiding  unity.  Every  state  of  consciousness  is  con- 
stantly referred  to  this  "I"  as  its  base,  as  the  subject  which  expe- 

*Loc.  Cit.,p.  687. 


20  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

riences  the  state.     A  mental  self-conscious  state  not  involving  an 
"I"  at  its  base  is  absolutely  unthinkable. 

In  this  "  I,"  thus  shown  to  be  necessary  to  self-conscious  exist- 
ence, there  are  many  other  attributes,  besides  those  we  have  been 
studying,  incapable  of  arising  out  of  any  combination  of  sense- 
perceptions,  and  which  must  therefore  be  inherent  to  or  potential 
within  itself.  One  such  is  memory.  This  is  a  reproduction  in 
consciousness  not  only  of  things  not  there,  but  of  things  which 
never  were  there.  For  the  things  we  perceive  through  our  senses 
are  not  stored  up  in  the  brain  even  as  infinitesimally  small  pict- 
ures or  representations,  for  they  never  reach  our  brain  as  such. 
It  is  only  the  effects  of  these,  recorded  in  molecular  changes, 
which  are  thus  stored ;  and  the  mind  in  remembering  has  to  take 
these  old  effects,  connect  them  with  their  old  causes,  and  from 
this  construct  the  old  representation.  Truly,  this  is  a  creative  pro- 
cess, requiring  a  creative  center  of  consciousness,  and  a  center 
which  can  only  exercise  this  power  through  its  being  one  in 
essence  with  creative  consciousness  in  nature.  It  requires  an 
abiding,  permanent  "I,"  or  the  picture  could  not  be  recognized 
as  belonging  to  a  past  experience.  As  has  been  pointed  out  by 
Prof.  Ladd : 

"  It  is  a  fact  of  consciousness,  on  which  all  possibility  of  connected  expe- 
rience and  of  recorded  and  cumulative  human  knowledge  is  dependent,  that 
certain  phases  or  products  of  consciousness  appear  with  a  claim  to  stand  for 
[to  represent]  past  experiences  to  which  they  are  regarded  as  in  some  respect 
similar.  It  is  this  peculiar  claim  in  consciousness  which  constitutes  the 
essence  of  an  act  of  memory;  it  is  this  which  makes  memory  wholly  inexplica- 
ble as  a  mere  persistence  or  recurrence  of  similar  impressions.  It  is  this  which 
makes  conscious  memory  a  spiritual  phenomenon,  the  explanation  of  which, 
as  arising  out  of  nervous  processes  and  conditions,  is  not  simply  undiscover- 
able  in  fact,  but  utterly  incapable  of  approach  by  imagination.  When,  then, 
we  speak  of  a  physical  basis  of  memory,  recognition  must  be  made  of  the 
complete  inability  of  science  to  suggest  any  physical  process  which  can  be 
conceived  of  as  correlated  with  that  peculiar  and  mysterious  actus  of  the  mind, 
connecting  its  present  and  its  past,  which  constitutes  the  essence  of  memory. '  '* 

Again,  memory  proves  a  unit  center  because  each  soul  remem- 
bers its  own  experiences  only.  It  cannot  encroach  upon  those  of 
another,  which  would  be  the  case  if  there  were  any  general 

*Loc.  Cit.,  p.  558. 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  21 

remembrance  possible  in  nature.  No  chasm  can  be  more  abrupt 
or  impassable  than  the  line  which  divides  conscious  experiences; 
and  no  theory  will  account  for  this  except  that  of  permanent,  con- 
scious unit-centers,  or  souls.  It  is  granted  that  impressions  are 
registered  not  only  in  the  brain,  but  in  every  tissue  of  the  body 
as  well,  for  each  organ  has  its  memory,  but — 

"For  that  spiritual  activity  which  actually  puts  together  in  consciousness 
the  sensations,  there  can  not  even  be  suggested  the  beginning  of  a  physical 
explanation."* 

This  is  to  be  found  in  a  unifying  center,  or  soul,  alone.  Mem- 
ory, then,  is  a  conscious  reproduction  by  a  permanent  center  of 
consciousness,  an  "  I  am  myself,"  of  past  experiences.  Especi- 
ally will  this  be  apparent  when  the  relation  of  will  to  memory  is 
considered.  We  consciously  and  deliberately  will  to  reproduce 
past  events — an  impossible  process  were  there  not  within  us  the 
subject  of  those  experiences  we  will  to  recall. 

In  the  Will,  also,  we  find  a  power  native  to  the  soul,  and  one 
unthinkable  except  as  the  action  of  a  conscious  entity.  As  well 
predicate  thought  without  a  Thinker  as  will  without  a  Willing 
Entity.  This  faculty  is  entirely  without  a  physical  basis,  or  at  least 
it  has  no  physical  organs,  but  pervades  the  entire  structure  of  the 
body,  apparently  as  the  agent  of  an  inner,  controlling  essence. 
Nor  is  an  organ  necessary;  for  the  simple,  homogenous  speck  of 
protoplasm  known  as  the  amceba,  structureless  and  entirely  desti- 
tute of  organs,  exercises  this  faculty  undeniably  in  those  changes 
it  makes  "which  can  not  be  wholly  explained  by  reference  to  any 
change  in  its  environments."  Its  superiority  to  and  control  over 
the  body  as  a  purely  physical  mechanism  is  shown  by  the  fact, 
pointed  out  by  Duchenne  and  others,  that  the  will  is  the  very 
first  agent  to  act  upon  restored  nerve  fibers  after  their  injury.  It 
is  the  active  agent  of  consciousness  in  selecting  what  sensations 
and  perceptions,  among  the  vast  number  continuously  clamoring 
for  the  soul's  attention,  shall  be  attended  to.  It  can  even  change 
the  very  reports,  so  to  speak,  of  those  sense  organs,  upon  whose 
action  materialism  would  fain  have  us  base  its  coming  into  exist- 
ence. Willing,  too,  is  a  purely  mental  activity.  No  passing-over 
of  force  from  spiritual  to  physical  realms  accompanies  its  action. 
There  is  positively  no  physical  energy  expended  in  willing.  All 
the  apparent  effort  is  entirely  the  result  of  the  physical  mechan- 

*Loc.  Cit.,  p.  556. 


22  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

ism  carrying  out,  or  attempting  to  carry  out,  the  mandates  of  the 
will,  as  pronounced  by  the  Ego. 

Like  the  memory,  too,  the  will  is  always  specialized.  There  is 
no  general  willing;  it  can  only  act  with  a  definite  object.  Its  sole 
material  connection  is  that  when  a  fiat  of  the  will  issues  certain 
molecules,  associated  with  the  line  of  action  willed,  move.  But 
this  shows  an  extraneous  mover.  It  is  a  physical  correlation  of 
molecules  with  an  act  of  consciousness ;  not  an  origination  in  such 
motion  of  either  will  or  consciousness.  Were  there  no  other  evi- 
dence, the  undoubtedly  genuine  cases  of  recovery  from  deep- 
seated  diseases  under  the  action  of  the  will  would  be  sufficient  to 
show  that  it  is  either  the  agent  of  the  mind,  or  the  mind  itself,  in 
activity,  and  quite  superior  to  the  physical  body  which  it  controls. 
It  is  true  that,  primarily,  acts  of  the  will  arise  out  of  sensations 
and  perceptions  depending  upon  environment;  but  the  choosing 
among  these  of  the  particular  perception  or  sensation  to  which 
the  attention  shall  be  directed  is  a  new  element,  which  can  not  be 
relegated  to  mere  experiences,  or  a  combination  of  any  other 
mental  activities.  It  is  a  deliberate  choice  of  a  tool  by  an  artisan 
having  more  than  one  at  his  disposal. 

For  if  we  examine  these  very  sensations  themselves,  which 
materialism  claims  have  arisen  out  of  mechanical  motion  among 
physical  molecules,  we  find  that  they  are  located  in  the  mind  itself, 
and  not  in  the  body.  They  evade  all  attempts  to  reduce  them  to 
the  domain  of  physics  by  measurement.  There  is  no  standard  in 
all  molecular  physics  to  determine  the  amount  of  sensation 
involved  in  a  "severe"  pain  or  a  "highly  pleasurable"  feeling. 
Being  activities  of  the  mind  alone,  and  only  correlated  with, 
not  transmuted  from,  molecular  activities,  they  can  only  be 
expressed  in  terms  of  consciousness,  not  in  those  of  physics. 

We  have  several  sense  organs,  also,  each  carrying  a  distinct 
class  of  impressions  to  the  mind.  To  synthesize  these  widely 
varying  activities  into  a  harmonious  whole,  recognized  by  the  "  I 
am  I"  as  its  experiences,  requires  that  this  "I  am  I"  should  be 
separate  from  and  superior  to  any  one  or  all  of  them.  And  upon 
this  ability  to  associate  different  classes  of  sensations  is  built  the 
mind's  power  to  project  and  locate  in  space  those  objects  which 
its  sense  organs  bring  into  its  environment.  The  sensations 
themselves  can  not  be  extended  within  the  brain ;  it  requires  a 
power  potent  in  the  soul  itself  to  project  into  space  certain  sensa- 


THE    PHYSIOLOGICAL    EVIDENCE.  2J 

tions  depending,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  upon  molecular  activi- 
ties entirely  unlike  them  in  action  and  essence.  The  presence  of 
this  synthesizing  center  is  shown  unquestionably  by  the  fact  that 
a  synthesis  does  take  place — that  two  or  more  distinct  sensations 
are  unified  in  the  mind  as  one  object.  Were  there  not  this  syn- 
thesizing center,  different  senses,  such  as  sight,  hearing,  and  touch, 
might  all  report  the  same  object;  but  how  could  any  knowledge 
arise  that  all  these  reports  referred  to  the  same  thing  without  a 
synthesizer?  Except  for  synthesis,  also,  there  could  be  but  one 
sensation  at  a  time  actively  present  in  a  consciousness  com- 
pounded only  of  varying  states.  And  were  there  but  one  sense 
organ,  which  would  be  practically  the  case  if  but  one  could  act  at 
once,  our  concepts  of  time  and  space  would  be  so  changed  that 
we  would  be  as  unlike  our  present  selves  as  an  oyster,  whose  con- 
sciousness, indeed,  must  be  largely  similar  to  that  which  ours  would 
be  under  such  circumstances. 

Sensations  and  ideas  are  themselves  only  phenomena,  and  not 
entities.  It  is  impossible  therefore,  for  a  sensation  to  be  the 
subject  of  its  own  states;  there  is  absolutely  required  an  entity 
for  this  purpose.  Nor  can  any  reason  be  given  why  motion 
should  become  sensation.  It  is  not  a  product  of  evolution.  As 
pointed  out  by  Prof.  Ladd: 

"  That  I  am  affected  with  a  certain  sensation  of  color,  lying  at  the  bottom 
of  the  spectrum's  scale,  when  several  billion  vibrations  of  ether  strike  the 
retina,  and  with  a  qualitatively  different  sensation  when  the  number  of  vibra- 
tions is  increased  by  several  billions  more,  cannot  be  explained  as  an  evolu- 
tion. The  same  remark  holds  within  the  limits  of  each  of  the  other  senses. 
Their  scales  of  quality  are  not  such  that  experiences  at  one  place  of  the  scale 
can  be  evolved  from  those  at  other  places  of  the  scale.  Some  of  them,  such 
as  smell  and  taste,  do  not  admit  of  being  referred  to  any  form  of  a  scale  dia- 
gram representing  relations  of  quality.  The  feeling  of  heat  is  not  another 
phase  of  the  feeling  of  cold;  neither  of  the  feelings  of  temperature  is  to  be 
explained  as  arising  out  of  feelings  of  pressure  or  motion."* 

It  is  quite  evident,  too,  that  the  senses  restrain  and  limit  the 
powers  of  the  Ego.  As  observed  by  Plato,  "  the  soul  reasons 
best  when  least  harassed  by  the  senses."  There  are  evidently 
more  " things"  than  senses,  as  is  shown  in  many  ways;  nota- 
bly, in  the  world  of  effects  lying  just  outside  the  colors  of  the 

•Loc.  CU. 


24  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

spectrum,  and  of  which  our  senses  afford  us  no  intimation. 
Finally,  if  the  sense  organs  were  the  result  of  outer  stimuli  there 
could  never  happen,  as  is  the  case  with  every  organized  being 
now,  the  construction  of  sense  organs  in  entire  absence  of  the 
stimuli  held  to  be  a  necessary  antecedent  to  their  appearance. 
Every  child  at  birth  comes  into  the  world  with  perfectly  formed 
eyes  which  have  never  known  the  stimulus  of  light;  and  so  on, 
although  in  a  lesser  degree,  with  all  its  sense  organs.  It  is  no 
explanation  to  say  that  these  have  been  primarily  so  organized, 
and  are  now  transmitted  by  heredity;  for  the  very  first  step  in 
their  acquirement,  no  matter  how  small,  has  always  and  neces- 
sarily been  taken  in  the  silence  and  darkness  of  subjective  being. 
The  outer  stimuli  have  only  aroused  the  inner  response;  they 
have  not  created,  nor  can  they  create,  evolve,  nor  even  modify, 
this. 

Of  course,  we  shall  be  met  here  with  the  materialistic  asser- 
tion that,  as  the  vegetable  kingdom,  even,  shows  traces  of  nerve 
functions,  and  as  this  proceeds  upward  through  the  apparently 
structureless  amceba  to  the  highly  complex  system  of  man, 
increasing  in  conscious  functioning  with  each  increase  of  special- 
ization, sensation  is  thus  plainly  a  product  of  evolution.  Yet 
the  functions  of  the  simplest  nervous  system  are  unique. 
Nothing  in  the  whole  curriculum  of  physical  science  affords  even 
a  working  hypothesis  by  which  to  explain  or  account  for  the 
appearance  of  the  conscious  factor.  Until  some  reasonable 
attempt  is  made  to  explain  how  motion  becomes  sensation,  occult 
theories  must  take  precedence;  especially  as  these  are  in  full 
accord  with  the  facts.  These  teach  that  the  outer  sense  organ  is 
constructed  by  and  because  of  the  inner  impulse  of  conscious- 
ness seeking  expression  in  form,  in  order  to  bring  about  sense 
relations  on  the  material  plane — the  only  relation  possible  at  the 
present  stage  of  the  soul's  becoming;  and  that  so  far  from  con- 
sciousness arising  mechanically  out  of  these  sense  organs,  they 
actually  limit  and  inhibit  conscious  manifestations.  There  is  a 
continuous  effort  for  more  consciousness  to  function  than  the 
sense  organ  affords  opportunity  for,  which  fact  is  the  very  base 
and  causal  antecedent  of  all  so-called  evolution,  were  science  not 
too  blind  to  perceive  it.  But  he  who  starts  in  the  wrong  direc- 
tion travels  a  weary  journey;  and  until  scientists  cease  to  seek  in 
material  phenomena  for  the  origin  of  consciousness  they  can  only 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  25 

increase  their  distance  from  the  truth  by  any  apparent  progress 
they  may  make. 

To  return:  Of  ideas  arising  out  of  sensations  it  can  only  be 
affirmed  that  they  are  modes  of  activity  of  the  Ego,  not  of  any 
conceivable  physical  juxtaposition  of  molecules.  The  laws  gov- 
erning the  association  of  ideas  are  to  be  found  in  the  nature  of 
the  soul  itself.  They  can  not  be  derived  from  any  known 
behavior  of  so-called  physical  atoms.  They  are  sui  generis;  and, 
while  undoubtedly  correlated  with,  do  not  nor  can  not  arise  out 
of,  the  molecular  activities  of  the  brain  because  of  the  impassable 
gulf  shown  to  exist  between  motion  and  sensation.  Their  origin- 
ation is  inexplicable  unless  we  admit  the  presence  of  an  observ- 
ing entity,  or  soul.  Ideas  can  not  associate  themselves;  and 
while  they  may  arise  semi-mechanically  in  an  idle  brain,  the  case 
is  quite  different  when  the  aroused  Ego,  through  its  will,  asserts 
not  only  what  ideas  shall  arise  in  the  mind,  but  the  manner 
of  their  association  as  well. 

All  the  material  ideas  having  their  root  in  sensations  are  con- 
scious relations  of  the  Ego  to  the  material  plane,  conditioned 
upon  its  material  organs.  They  are  in  no  way  similar  to  the 
Ego's  consciousness  of  self,  or  of  its  own  being.  The  mind  or 
thinking  Ego  never  applies  the  terms  of  sensation  arising  out  of 
its  relations  with  external  nature  to  its  own  being;  it  never 
thinks  of  itself  as  "large"  or  "small,"  or  as  "hot"  or  "cold." 
Nothing  could  be  more  definite  than  the  line  drawn  between  its 
own  native  and  proper  functions  and  those  arising  out  of  its 
association  with  the  sense  organs  of  the  body.  And  so  entirely 
dependent  is  sensation  upon  the  soul  that  clear  vision  and  acute 
hearing,  etc.,  depend  for  their  nicety  not  upon  perfect  sense 
organs — though  these  are  necessary  accessories, — but  upon  a 
clear  mental  interpretation  of  what  is  seen  or  heard. 

Again,  if  consciousness  were  a  transmutation,  in  some  incon- 
ceivable manner,  of  molecular  into  psychic  activities  within  the 
brain,  then  there  ought  to  be  both  a  specialization  of  nerve  sub- 
stance and  a  constant  ratio  between  the  brain  and  mind.  But, 
as  Prof.  Ladd  states: 

"So  far  as  we  know  anything  about  the  particular  mclecjlar  activities  of 
the  central  nervous  system  which  are  most  directly  connected  with  the  phe- 
nomena of  consciousness,  they  do  not  differ  essentially  from  other  molecular 
activities  of  this  system  not  thus  connected  with  consciousness.  The  chem- 


26  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

ical  constitution  and  structural  form  of  the  nerve-fibers  and  nerve-cells  of  the 
brain  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  spinal  cord  in  any  such  respect  as,  of 
itself,  to  account  for  the  difference  in  the  relations  in  which  the  two  stand  to 
conscious  mental  states.  They  do  not  so  differ  even  from  the  molecules  which 
enter  into  the  living  plant  or  animal,  of  much  lower  species,  mentally,  than 
man."* 

Thus,  there  is  evidently  no  physical  evolution  of  the  ganglionic 
cells  after  they  have  reached  a  certain  point.  The  most  pro- 
found philosopher  is  using  cells  of  the  same  kind  to  relate  him  to 
sensuous  existence  as  his  Darwinian  "  cousin,"  the  ape.  There 
ought  to  have  been  a  further  and  most  marked  specialization  of 
form  and  structure  if  mental  activities  had  been  evolved  from 
increasing  nervous  complexities.  Instead  of  this,  there  is  only  an 
entirely  relative — not  absolute — increase  in  the  amount  of  these 
cells.  Is  it  not  evident  that  "gray  matter'*  is  only  the  pigment, 
as  it  were,  with  which  the  ape  makes  his  feeble  conscious  daubs, 
while  man  produces  magnificent  paintings  because  the  pigment 
in  his  case  is  in  the  hands  of  superior  intelligence  ? 

There  is  often,  too,  the  most  marked  divergence  between  men- 
tal and  physical  evolution.  The  human  child  comes  into  the 
world  perfectly  mindless  as  far  as  anything  beyond  reflex  action 
is  concerned,  yet  it  is  possessed  of  a  most  perfect  and  elaborate 
nervous  system,  "far  surpassing  that  of  the  most  intelligent  adult 
animal."  Where  is  the  mental  activity  which  ought  to  have  un- 
avoidably accompanied  this  physical  evolution,  if  the  one  process 
arises  out  of  the  other?  In  the  first  year  of  the  child's  life,  men- 
tal activity  makes  the  most  wonderful  strides,  running  far  ahead 
of  its  supposed  physical  source.  The  same  inequality  attends 
their  relations  throughout  life.  Especially  is  it  marked  in  old  age, 
where,  long  after  the  physical  has  ceased  to  progress,  and  is  even 
rapidly  retrogressing,  the  mind  retains  all  its  pristine  vigor.  Of 
course,  this  is  seen  only  in  cases  of  men  who  have  lived  a  mental 
life.  A  man  who  has  passed  his  existence  as  an  ambulating 
vegetable  decays  like  one;  he  has  no  mind  to  shine  forth  amidst 
the  ruins  of  his  body.  But  the  presence  of  a  vigorous  mentality 
connected  with  great  physical  decrepitude  in  but  one  case  proves 
its  possibility  in  all.  Cases  of  illness  with  mental  vigor  are  in 
point  here — in  fact,  many  diseases,  by  refining  and  subduing 
animality,  actually  increase  mentality.  Of  course,  there  is  a 

»Loc.  CiL 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  27 

golden  mean,  and  bodily  age  or  disease  to  the  point  of  cutting  off 
the  Ego's  hold  upon  its  sense  organs  must  be  followed  by  their 
ceasing  to  give  evidence  of  its  presence.  In  such  cases  mental 
decrepitude  apparently  follows  upon  the  physical.  But,  as  already 
pointed  out,  there  can  be  no  argument  drawn  from  this  intimate 
dependence  upon  the  body  by  the  soul  for  its  conscious  relations 
with  this  plane  against  its  actual  and  independent  existence. 
Every  entity  in  nature  is  dependent  upon  other  entities;  the  very 
cells  of  man's  body  are  made  up  of  countless  lives,  having  their 
own  life  history  beyond  and  outside  of  this  association,  upon 
which,  nevertheless,  they  entirely  depend.  The  Ego  within  the 
body  shows  more  numerous  and  important  phenomena  to  entitle 
it  to  be  claimed  as  a  real  unit  entity  than  do  any  or  all  physical 
phenomena  or.  the  part  of  the  latter;  and  if  either  is  to  be 
declared  non-existent,  it  must,  by  all  the  laws  of  logic,  be  the 
body,  and  not  the  soul. 

But  the  crowning  physiological  argument  in  favor  of  a  soul  is 
in  the  nature  of  consciousness  itself,  and  that,  as  has  been  pointed 
out,  all  its  higher  spiritual  activities  can  neither  be  connected  with 
any  definite  material  organ  nor  proven  to  arise  out  of  any  con- 
ceivable mode  of  molecular  motion  within  the  brain. 

"  For  all  the  higher  spiritual  faculties,"  says  Lotze,  "which  consist  in  judg- 
ment of  the  relations  of  given  conceptions,  we  neither  know  how  empirically 
to  demonstrate  a  definite  bodily  organ,  nor  should  we  know  how  to  conceive 
precisely  what  such  an  organ  could  contribute  toward  the  solution  of  the  most 
essential  part  of  the  problem — that  is,  the  pronouncing  of  the  judgment  itself. 
It  is  conceivable,  on  the  other  hand,  that  these  higher  activities  might  pre- 
suppose the  complete  and  clear  representation  of  the  content  about  which  the 
judgment  is  to  be  passed,  and,  consequently,  also  the  undisturbed  function  of 
those  organs  which  contribute,  first,  to  perception  by  the  senses;  then  to  its 
reproduction  and  combination  with  other  perceptions;  and,  finally,  to  the 
appropriate  attachment  of  feelings  of  value  to  each  of  them."* 

Yet  this  "  clear  representation  of  the  content  about  which  the 
judgment  is  to  be  passed"  must  not  be  conceived  of  as  taking 
part  in  the  judgment  itself.  This  would  land  us  in  the  materialis- 
tic absurdity  of  supposing  that  all  the  activities  of  consciousness 
were  only  the  product  of  the  molecular  associations  concerned  in 
their  representation.  As  well  try  to  identify  the  bile  as  a  real 
physical  secretion  of  hypochondria,  or  tears  as  liquid  sorrow. 

*Loc    Cit.,p.  558. 


28  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

In  this  connection,  too  much  stress  can  not  be  laid  upon  the 
importance  of  the  unity  of  consciousness  (before  referred  to),  of 
the  Ego,  or  soul.  All  our  mental  faculties  are  but  modes  of  its 
behavior.  Its  presence  and  native  powers  are  demonstrated  by 
its  phenomenal  activities.  It  would  be  less  unphilosophic  to  deny 
the  existence  of  electricity  than  of  the  center  of  consciousness  at 
the  base  of  the  soul ;  for  all  we  know  concerning  the  former  is 
drawn  entirely  from  its  objective  phenomena,  while  of  the  latter 
we  have  in  addition  to  these  its  subjective  phenomena  as  well. 
And  although  the  mental  states,  perceptions,  and  sensations  may 
be  and  are  innumerable,  they  are  alike  referred  to  the  one  subject 
— the  "  I"  upon  which  they  all  rest.  Is  it  a  thinkable  proposition 
that  the  whole  possible  gamut  of  conscious  experiences  could  be 
thus  unified  in  a  subject  of  them  all  without  the  real  and  actual 
existence  of  that  subject? 

"To  have  a  variety  of  changing  states  attributed  to  it  as  the  subject  of  them 
all — this  is  to  demonstrate  in  consciousness  a  claim  to  real  being.  Unchang- 
ing rigidity,  the  permanence  of  the  mathematical  point  or  of  the  material 
atom,  on  the  supposition  that  the  latter  undergoes  no  interior  changes  what- 
ever, if  such  rigidity  and  permanence  anywhere  exist,  constitutes  no  claim  to 
the  title  of  real  being. 

"The  soul  exists  in  reality,  above  all  other  kinds  of  being,  because  it  alone, 
so  far  as  we  know  on  good  evidence,  knows  itself  as  the  subject  of  its  own 
states;  or,  indeed,  knows  the  states  of  which  it  is  the  subject  as  states  belong- 
ing to  itself.  But  its  law  is  that  of  development:  and,  unlike  all  'things' 
which  are  subjects  of  various  kinds  of  evolution,  so  called,  the  soul  can  rec- 
ognize the  law  of  its  own  being.  When,  therefore,  we  are  asked  what  the 
mind  really  is,  we  can  respond  by  telling  what  it  comes  to  be  as  the  result  of 
its  unfolding  under  the  fixed  conditions  of  its  native  powers.  But  these 
'  powers'  cannot  be  called  native,  as  though  they  were  actual  achievements  of 
the  mind's  inborn  faculties,  or  separate  forms  of  energy  inherent  in  it,  after 
the  analogy  of  the  forces  said  [somewhat  unintelligibly,  it  must  be  admitted,] 
to  be  '  inherent'  in  the  atom. 

"But  we  do  not  define  the  nature  of  any  real  being  simply  by  stating  how  it 
appears  and  behaves  in  its  most  germinal  and  undeveloped  form.  The  tree 
explains  the  seed;  the  adult  bird,  the  egg;  the  character  of  the  highly  differ- 
entiated product  must  be  studied  in  order  to  know  the  full  description  of  the 
energies  that  are  potential  in  the  simple  stages.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that 
the  mind  [soul]  has  a  history  in  each  individual  case;  and  in  each  case  such 
history  is  a  development.  This  self-recognizing  unity  of  development  which 


THE   PHYSIOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  29 

belongs  to  the  mind  is  a  striking  proof  of  the  validity  of  its  claim  to  be  con- 
sidered a  real  being.  As  the  being  which  acts  and  knows  itself  as  acting, 
which  is  acted  upon  and  knows  itself  affected,  which  is  the  subject  of  states 
and  itself  attributes  these  states  to  itself,  which  develops  according  to  a  plan 
and  so  remembers  and  comprehends  the  significance  of  the  past  states  that  it 
can  recognize  the  fact  of  its  own  development — as  such  a  being  the  mind 
[soul]  is  more  entitled  to  consider  itself  '  real'  than  to  consider  real  any  of  the 
various  objects  that,  immediately  or  indirectly,  appear  before  it  in  the  course 
of  its  history."* 

There  is  still  another  faculty  of  the  mind  which  is,  if  possible, 
even  more  undiscoverable  in  and  unrelated  to  any  definite  phys- 
ical basis  than  those  heretofore  considered.  This  is  that  aspect 
or  phase  of  consciousness  known  as  the  Feelings.  Just  what 
feeling  consists  in  escapes  definition.  It  is  an  innate,  underived 
power  of  consciousness.  It  accompanies  all  sensation  and  all 
ideation,  while  it  itself  may  be  and  often  is  experienced  inde- 
pendently of  any  other  conscious  state.  It  is,  therefore,  upon  this 
plane  at  least,  a  basic  aspect  evidently  of  consciousness,  if  not 
the  very  essence  of  this  itself.  For  all  sense  of  personal  identity 
may  be  lost,  as  in  chloroform  narcosis;  all  thought  may  cease,  as  in 
yoga  or  other  concentration;  all  will  may  be  suspended,  as  in  the 
passivity  of  mediumship;  or  these  may  be  annulled  or  suspended 
together  in  moments  of  terror,  surprise,  joy,  or  pleasure.  Yet, 
untouched  by  all,  burns  the  steady  light  of  a  conscious  center 
which  feels  that  it  exists,  or,  rather,  that  it  IS.  That  feeling  is 
related  to  this  phenomenal  world  by  the  sense  organs,  is  evident. 
That  it  is  modified  as  to  its  states  by  these,  follows  as  a  nec- 
essary corollary,  else  there  would  be  no  reason  for  or  even  possi- 
bility of  the  association ;  but  that  it  arises,  de  novo,  out  of  any 
possible  combination  of  merely  fortuitous  molecular  activities  is 
simply  absurd.  It  measures  all  sensation,  as  to  whether  it  is 
painful,  pleasurable,  or  neutral  (if  such  a  state  can  exist);  it 
equally  accompanies  thought,  and  classifies  this  by  its  own 
inherent  analytical  powers  as  belonging  to  or  connected  with  one 
or  other  of  the  higher  activities  of  the  mind,  such  as  imaginative, 
religious,  moral,  esthetical,  etc.  It  binds  all  the  other  faculties 
of  the  mind  into  an  unity  such  as  is  unexplainable  except  as  the 
conscious  functioning  of  a  self-conscious  Ego.  Feeling  accom- 
panies all  possible  experience.  Whether  one  hate  or  love, 

•Loc.  Cit.,  0.680: 


30  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

whether  he  live  in  intellectual  realms  or  those  of  sensuous 
emotions,  feeling  accompanies  each  state  so  faithfully  that  the 
only  explanation  of  this  is  that  it  is  the  presence  of  a  self- 
conscious  soul,  exercising  an  underived  and  underivable  power 
innate  in  consciousness  itself,  and  hence  a  ray  from  or  an  aspect 
of  the  Causeless  Cause,  in  its  finite  manifestation. 

All  the  evidence  thus  adduced  to  prove  the  presence  of  a  soul 
as  a  necessary  deduction  from  physiological  phenomena  must  not 
be  understood  as  asserting,  or  even  indicating,  that  this  soul  is 
capable  of  being  analyzed  and  its  nature  explained,  because  we 
can  prove  its  existence.  There  is  no  phenomenon,  nor  entity, 
nor  being  in  the  universe  which  does  not  at  last  escape  analysis 
by  disappearing  in  the  great  Unknowable  Source  of  All,  the 
Causeless  Cause.  But  it  would  seem  the  height  of  unphilosophic 
reasoning  to  admit  the  reality  of  the  fleeting  and  illusionary 
beings  which  constitute  our  bodies,  together  with  their  environ- 
ments, and  then  to  deny  the  real  existence  of  the  conscious  and 
permanent  base,  the  Knower,  Observer,  and  Recorder  of  this 
illusory  experience.  An  Unknowable  must  always  be  admitted 
as  an  ultimate  factor;  the  finite  can  never  hope  to  contain  or 
measure  the  Infinite,  but  we  must  beware  that  in  our  ignorance 
we  do  not  relegate  to  this  Unknowable  problems  which  belong 
only  to  the  Unknown,  and  which  it  is  vital  to  our  progress,  and 
even  our  very  existence,  that  we  discover.  To  this  Unknown 
which  must  be  discovered  evidently  belong  inquiries  such  as  we 
have  been  considering,  as  well  as  all  phenomena  which  relate  to 
the  existence  of  the  soul,  the  modes  of  its  behavior,  the  things 
which  retard,  prevent,  or  accelerate  its  progress  through  the 
Cycle  of  Necessity  in  which  it  has  its  present  being. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    PSYCHOLOGICAL    EVIDENCE    OF    THE    EXIST- 
ENCE OF   THE  SOUL. 

N  the  preceding  chapter  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  evi- 
dences of  a  soul  in  the  psycho-physiology  of  the  waking  state, 
or  that  of  normal  consciousness.  No  reference  was  had  to  the 
large  and  fertile  field  consisting  of  man's  dreaming  consciousness, 
together  with  the  allied  phenomena  of  trance,  hypnotism,  clairvoy- 
ance, and  supersensuous  states  generally. 

It  is  evident  that  if  there  be  a  pyscho-physiology  of  the  waking 
state,  there  must  also  be  one  of  sleep.  As  this  occupies  one-third 
of  our  entire  existence,  it  cannot  be  safely  ignored  in  any  psycho- 
logical investigation.  It  is  hardly  reasonable,  in  view  of  the 
wonderful  utilization  of  every  opportunity  by  nature,  to  infer  that 
sleep  is  only  intended  for  that  bodily  rest  and  recuperation  to 
which  it  has  been  assigned  by  science.  Furthermore,  the 
so-called  abnormal  phenomena  of  trance,  clairvoyance,  thought 
transference,  etc.,  representing  a  large  "unclassified  residuum"  of 
psychic  phenomena,  have  a  most  important  bearing  upon  the 
question  of  human  consciousness  functioning  independent  of  the 
body,  and  hence  upon  the  existence  of  a  soul. 

There  are  also  further  facts  and  generalizations  to  be  drawn 
from  the  study  of  the  nature  of  the  relation  of  consciousness  to 
the  human  organism  in  particular,  and  to  biological  evolution  in 
general,  which  may,  perhaps,  be  profitably  studied  in  connection 
with  and  as  a  preface  to  the  consideration  of  dreaming  and  other 
supersensuous  phenomena. 

Taking  up,  primarily,  then,  these  general  considerations,  we  find 
a  soul  directly  pointed  at  by  the  fact  of  self-consciousness. 
While  consciousness  of  some  degree  necessarily  accompanies 
every  step  of  evolutionary  development,  in  man  alone  it  first 
reaches  the  condition  of  self-consciousness,  or  consciousness  of 
consciousness.  Man  analyzes  and  examines  his  own  conscious- 
ness. Now,  analysis  requires  two  factors — an  analyzer  and  the 


32  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

thing  analyzed.  Therefore,  self-consciousness  implies  most  con- 
clusively that  man  has  become  at  least  dual  in  his  nature;  that 
something  has  been  added  above  and  beyond  the  animal  con- 
sciousness (which  knows  no  "  I")  of  the  kingdom  below  him.  One 
constituent  of  his  being  steps  aside  and  critically  examines  other 
constituents.  Unless  his  consciousness  is  dual  and  separable,  it 
is  incapable  of  this.  No  molecular  motion — the  materialistic 
source  of  thought  and  consciousness — can  isolate  itself  and 
observe  the  mechanical  details  to  which  it  owes  its  own  existence. 
Such  a  process  is  inconceivable.  As  we  have  seen,  only  a  soul 
independent  of  its  physical  sense  organs  for  its  conscious  exist- 
ence can  satisfy  the  conditions  of  the  problems  of  self-conscious- 
ness and  self-analysis. 

Further  consideration  shows  us,  also,  that  self-consciousness 
does  not  exhaust  its  peculiar  and  proper  object,  which  is  self.  If 
consciousness  were  the  product  of  the  chemico-vital  processes 
going  on  within  the  body,  it  ought,  as  the  mere  expression  of  this, 
to  express  it  fully.  It  would  be  a  simple  question  in  mathematics 
— a  case  of  two  and  two  making  four.  Instead  of  this,  our  ordi- 
nary consciousness  finds  itself  occupying  a  body  of  which  it  knows 
next  to  nothing.  Our  ordinary  consciousness  takes  notice.  That 
there  is  an  inner  consciousness,  or  soul,  and  that  this  soul  is  intel- 
ligently conscious  of  every  process  going  on  within  the  body, 
is  abundantly  proven  by  recent  experiments  in  hypnotism.  This 
state,  in  which  the  ordinary  consciousness  is  suspended  to  a 
greater  or  lesser  degree  and  an  inner  permitted  to  function,  shows 
that  a  very  illiterate,  ignorant  person  will  display  a  familiarity 
with  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  his  or  her  organism,  and  a  rec- 
ognition of  diseased  conditions  together  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
remedies  necessary  to  their  alleviation  or  cure,  far  exceeding  that 
of  the  most  learned  and  experienced  physician.  That  this  infor- 
mation and  knowledge  proceed  from  an  inner  source,  and  are  not 
due  to  thought  transference  or  suggestion  on  the  part  of  the 
physician,  is  proven  by  unsuspected  physical  conditions  thus 
described  having  been  verified  \sy  post  mortem.  This  strange  phe- 
nomenon can  only  be  accounted  for  by  admitting  in  man  a  higher 
consciousness  than  that  which  functions  on  the  ordinary  or  wak- 
ing plane,  and  which  consciousness  can  only  exist  as  the  functions 
of  an  independent  Ego,  or  soul. 

It  is  true  that  self-prescribing,  etc.,  are  only  comparatively  low 


THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  33 

planes  of  the  conscious  functioning  of  the  soul,  but  this  does  not 
diminish  their  real  significance.  The  point  made  clear  by  them  is 
that  normal,  waking  consciousness  expresses  only  a  portion — a 
very  small  portion,  in  reality — of  the  conscious  powers  of  the 
soul.  The  fact  that  the  soul  is  superior  to  the  body,  and  its  con- 
scious area  actually  limited  by  the  sense  organs  of  the  latter,  is 
thus  firmly  established. 

If,  also,  we  examine  the  relation  sustained  by  consciousness  to 
biological  processes  in  general  we  shall  find  that  the  same  condi- 
tions obtain.  The  manifestation  of  divine  consciousness  in  phys- 
ical form,  which  constitutes  nature  as  we  perceive  it,  is  likewise 
limited  in  its  expression  by  its  material  vehicle.  There  is  a  con- 
stant struggle  on  the  part  of  the  inner  consciousness  to  express 
itself  more  fully  and  harmoniously  than  the  "matter"  with  which 
it  is  associated  permits.  This  fact  is  the  sole  agent  in  and  the 
cause  of  all  evolution.  Both  man  and  nature  are  constantly  try- 
ing to  displace  this  movable  threshold  of  consciousness  which 
they  have  in  common.  This  threshold,  the  point  of  unstable 
equilibrium  in  nature,  is  the  battle-field  wherein  every  contest 
between  "  matter  and  spirit"  takes  place.  Here  the  outer  form  is 
slowly  modified  by  the  continuous  efforts  of  the  inner  conscious- 
ness, seeking  a  more  perfect  vehicle  for  its  expression.  The  fact 
that  modification  is  possible  in  man  and  nature  prophesies  in  both, 
also,  unlimited  potentialities  of  future  development. 

And,  truly,  a  biological  process  is  only  possible  by  means  of  a 
higher  or  transcendental  consciousness  in  nature.  If  we  take  any 
division — the  vertebrates,  for  example — we  shall  find  the  design- 
ing idea  always  precedes  in  time  its  evolution  in  matter.  The 
intention  of  nature  is  plainly  foreshadowed  in  the  notochord,  which 
still  persists  in  some  of  the  lower  vertebrates;  and  the  prophecy 
of  this  insignificant  notochord  finds  its  realization  in  the  magnifi- 
cent elaboration  of  the  vertebral  column,  with  its  cranial  enlarge- 
ment, muscular,  nervous,  arterial,  lymphatic,  digestive,  and  other 
accessory  systems,  which  together  constitute  the  body  of  the 
being  declared  to  be  "a  little  lower  than  the  angels  in  heaven." 
Yet  science  would  have  us  believe  that  this  wonderful  result  is  due 
alone  to  the  blind  groping  of  natural  forces  under  the  impelling 
influence  of  unintelligent  law!  Nay,  if  there  were  no  other  proof 
of  there  being  a  higher  consciousness  in  nature  and  in  man,  it  is 
shown  beyond  all  doubt  by  the  very  facts  upon  which  materialis- 


34  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

tic  science  chiefly  relies — those  of  evolution.  No  building  was 
ever  yet  constructed  whose  model  or  design  was  not  previously 
present  in  the  consciousness  of  its  architect;  and  no  biological 
process  ever  took  place  which  was  not  previously  present  in  the 
mind  of  a  Higher  Intelligence. 

Evolution  continuously  displaces  the  threshold  of  conscious- 
ness in  nature  and  in  man.  And  biology,  also,  shows  that  for 
the  whole  of  organic  nature,  including  man,  there  are  two 
increasingly  unequal  divisions — that  part  which  sense  organs  dis- 
close, and  that  portion  which  is  transcendental  to  or  beyond  sen- 
suous perception.  To  an  oyster  most  of  the  world  is  trans- 
cendental; that  man's  consciousness  is  very  much  widened  in 
area  does  not  by  any  means  imply  that  he  is  in  contact  with  the 
whole  of  nature.  Step  by  step,  the  higher  consciousness  has 
evolved  organs  capable  of  relating  itself  to  larger  and  larger 
areas  of  contact  with  external  things. 

The  design  in  each  instance  has  preceded  the  construction  of 
the  thing  designed.  If  the  brain,  for  example,  were  developed 
by  blind  force  alone,  how  could  it  have  been  adapted  for  future 
needs?  Yet  all  the  functions  of  the  human  mind,  all  its  god-like 
faculties,  were  foreseen  and  provided  for  in  anticipation  by  the 
first  swelling  which,  at  one  extremity  of  an  otherwise  indis- 
tinguishable line  of  nerve  subtance,  prophesied  and  promised  the 
magnificent  display  of  will,  intellect,  reason,  emotion,  and  intui- 
tion subsequently  enabled  to  manifest  through  the  brain  of  a 
Spencer  or  a  Shakespeare.  And  the  unbroken  sequence  of 
design  and  thought  lies  before  our  eyes  all  our  lives,  yet  we  are 
asked  to  believe  that  fortuitous  chance  caused  force  to  take  this 
direction — that  all  this  is  but  the  sum  of  the  molecular  and  chem- 
ical action  of  blindly  working  law! 

This  movable  and  moving  threshold  of  consciousness,  then, 
appears  in  all  nature.  It  can  only  be  the  result  of  two  causes. 
Either  an  inner  and  a  higher  consciousness  is  shaping  and  trans- 
forming matter,  with  a  definite  and  intelligent  end  in  view,  or  it 
is  the  result  of  blind  chance  working  under  the  despotic  need  of 
unintelligent  force.  And  if  we  are  compelled  to  admit  an  inner 
and  a  higher  consciousness  in  any  single  effort  of  nature,  the 
fortress  is  taken;  for,  step  by  step,  we  shall  be  forced  to  admit 
a  higher  consciousness  in  all;  and  the  question  as  to  whether 
man  has  a  higher  consciousness,  or  soul,  is  answered  by  the  bio- 


THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  35 

logical  argument  in  the  affirmative.  And  again  we  are  driven  to 
the  conclusion  that,  since  this  higher  consciousness  is  not  depend- 
ent in  any  way  upon  the  matter  which  it  shapes  to  further 
its  ends — as  a  potter  might — for  its  continued  existence,  then  it 
does  not,  and  indeed  can  not,  die  upon  the  death  or  transforma- 
tion of  the  latter.  On  the  contrary,  analogy  points  to  the  fact 
that,  as  a  man  wears  out  and  renews  his  body,  cell  by  cell,  many 
times  in  the  labors  of  a  life,  so  his  soul  must  wear  out  and  renew 
many  bodies  in  the  course  of  its  infinite  pilgrimage.  Here,  once 
again,  then,  the  fact  of  and  reason  for  reincarnation  meets  us 
squarely  as  the  logical  result  of  biological  necessities. 

Again,  the  evolution  of  sense  organs  and  the  widening  of  con- 
sciousness upon  this  plane  are  parallel.  Nor  is  it  probable  that 
man  will  evolve  any  absolutely  new  sense  organs  which  will  relate 
him  to  new  phenomena  or  facts  of  nature.  But  this  is  not  neces- 
sary, since  those  he  has  are  capable  of  almost  infinite  expansion 
along  lines  they  now  subtend.  And  that  no  new  physiological 
organs  are  in  process  of  evolution  points  plainly  to  the  inference 
that  future  development  must  be  in  psychic  or  mental  directions. 
This  will  certainly  be  the  case  unless  we  refuse  to  predicate  any 
further  advance  as  possible  to  the  human  Ego — a  conclusion  to 
which  the  egotism  of  self-satisfaction  is  very  prone. 

If  one  wears  blue  glasses  all  nature  assumes  a  blue  hue. 
Materialism  has  looked  at  the  universe  so  long  through  mate- 
rial lenses  that  it  has  become  spiritually  color-blind.  It  also 
confounds  the  condition  of  thinking  with  the  cause  of  thought ;  it 
mistakes  the  physical  brain,  which  is  the  battery  by  means  of 
which  the  operator  beyond  transmits  thought  messages,  for  the 
creator  of  that  which  it  merely  transmits.  It  is  exactly  the  same 
as  if  a  countryman  were  to  insist  that  the  instrument  which  ticks 
off  his  message  is  the  source  of  the  intelligence  displayed. 

Self-consciousness,  then,  together  with  its  varied  functions,  such 
as  reflective  thought,  constructive  imagination,  volition,  even  to 
the  extent  of  deliberately  abandoning  the  body  by  suicide — all 
show  that  the  body  is  occupied  and  controlled  by  a  soul  almost 
infinitely  superior  to  it  in  function  and  powers;  and,  as  a  neces- 
sary corollary,  that  the  soul  has  acquired  this  undoubted  superi- 
ority by  an  almost  numberless  series  of  reincarnations. 

A  careful  examination  must  convince  any  one  that  thought 
comes  into  the  consciousness  ready  made;  that  is,  that  we  do 


36  A   STUDY  OF  THE   SOUL. 

not  consciously  create  it,  but  receive  it  as  though  transmitted  to 
us  from  some  source  outside  or  beyond  us.  From  a  perception 
of  this,  poets  have  always  claimed  to  be  inspired  by  a  "  muse." 
This  reception  of  completed  thought  shows  plainly  that  the  phys- 
ical brain  is  only  an  organ  to  relate  thought  to  molecular  con- 
ditions, and  not  to  create  it,  in  any  sense  of  the  word.  The 
whole  of  nature's  so-called  creative  processes  are  simply  uncon- 
scious thought — that  is,  unconscious  to  us.  Could  we  attune  our 
consciousness  to  that  of  the  creative  intelligences  in  nature,  we 
would  know  what  is  going  on  in  the  mind  of  an  ant,  as  also  in 
the  mind  of  a  flower  or  a  stone.  And  that  the  soul  is  so 
attuned,  in  a  degree  at  least,  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  in  deep 
hypnotic  states  it  knows  nature's  thoughts  or  processes  going  on 
within  its  own  physical  organism,  and  can  and  does  recognize 
and  prescribe  for  diseased  conditions  therein.  This  is  just  in 
accordance  with  what  must  be  predicated  of  a  soul,  which,  being 
independent  of  the  body  for  all  except  one  class  of  purely  material 
functions,  and  which,  passing  from  body  to  body  by  means  of 
reincarnation,  must  accumulate  an  amount  of  conscious  expe- 
riences, with  knowledge  and  wisdom  arising  therefrom,  which  can- 
not of  necessity  find  full  and  complete  expression  in  any  one 
body,  as  a  small  engine  is  insufficient  to  afford  full  expression  for 
the  energy  of  a  series  of  boilers.  To  turn  on  the  full  force  would 
in  both  instances  be  to  destroy  the  vehicle. 

Proceeding,  next,  more  directly  to  the  examination  of  the 
dreaming  and  other  abnormal  states  of  consciousness,  we  note, 
as  a  basic  parallel,  that  the  projection  of  images  during  sleep  is 
exactly  equivalent  to  perception  in  the  waking  state,  both  placing 
objectively  something  we  perceive  subjectively.  A  tree,  for 
example,  is  not  seen  actually  where  it  is ;  nor  is  its  size  nor  color 
nor  any  of  its  attributes  perceived  externally.  The  perception  is 
entirely  internal;  the  location  and  definition  of  the  object  exter- 
nally is  an  after  operation  belonging  to  experience  and  judg- 
ment. A  blind  man,  suddenly  restored  to  sight,  as  has  been 
done  by  operation,  is  at  first  utterly  unable  to  estimate  the  dis- 
tance, perspective,  and  other  qualities  of  objects,  except  as  the 
result  of  painfully  acquired  experience,  in  which  perception  plays 
no  further  part  than  to  furnish  the  primary  data.  Therefore, 
there  is,  ipso  facto ^  nothing  in  dreams  which  excludes  their  phe- 
nomena from  the  domain  of  actual  perception.  As  continuously 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  37 

occurs  in  waking  life,  these  perceptions  may  be  wrongly  inter- 
preted; but  they  are  none  the  less  true  perceptions,  and  have 
their  psycho-physiology,  our  ignorance  of  which  is  no  warrant  for 
its  non-existence. 

Waking  consciousness  is  the  result  of  an  almost  infinite  num- 
ber of  physical  stimuli  reaching  perception  and  recognition  by 
means  of  the  sense  organs.  In  dream,  the  soul  responds  to 
stimuli  from  inner  and  more  spiritual  planes.  The  senselessness 
of  most  remembered  dreams  is  due  to  a  mixing  of  the  waking 
and  dreaming  states,  when  objective  stimuli  are  partly  drama- 
tized on  the  subjective  plane,  and  vice  versa.  In  ordinary 
dreams  all  stimuli  are  dramatized;  thus  resembling  somewhat  a 
play  where  the  actors  are  limited  to  pantomime  for  the  expression 
of  their  ideas.  And  the  causes  of  the  dramatization  not  being 
perceived,  the  judgment  necessarily  rests  on  false  premises. 
The  waking  state  is  partly  objective  and  partly  subjective; 
dream  is  the  same — only  between  the  two  states  the  threshold  of 
consciousness  is  greatly  displaced.  In  the  waking  condition  the 
consciousness  is  engrossed  by  the  stronger  stimuli  of  physical 
life,  and  the  subjective  threshold  recedes  accordingly.  In  dream 
the  objective  threshold  recedes,  and  the  consciousness  responds 
to  an  entirely  different  class  of  stimuli,  of  a  subjective  nature. 
It  is  not  claimed  that  these  minor  stimuli  are  not  present  in 
the  waking  condition.  They  are;  but  are  crowded  out  of  the 
attention,  or  displaced  by  the  stronger.  They  resemble  a  feeble 
chord  i  nmusic  so  lost  in  louder  and  more  highly  pitched  ones  that 
we  are  unaware  it  is  being  sounded.  It  is  only  as  objective  stimuli 
fade  or  are  suppressed  that  we  can  become  conscious  on  subject- 
ive planes.  In  both  sleeping  and  waking  states  it  is,  of  course, 
the  same  consciousness,  but  responding  to  different  stimuli. 

If,  then,  the  physiology  of  dreams  carries  perception  and  con- 
sciousness to  the  dream  state,  the  importance  of  studying  this 
and  its  allied  unconscious  (so  called)  conditions  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. For  once  we  show  that  ordinary  dream  and  the 
higher  dream  states,  such  as  somnambulism  and  trance,  are 
merely  gradations  of  the  same  consciousness  responding  to 
new  stimuli,  we  not  only  establish  the  fact  of  another  conscious- 
ness than  the  waking,  but  we  also  prove  that  this  consciousness 
is  very  greatly  superior  to  the  waking,  in  knowledge,  functions, 
and  power.  In  other  words,  we  prove  an  inner  Ego,  or  soul. 


38  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

In  demonstration  of  this  connection,  if  we  pass  but  a  single 
step  above  the  ordinary  dream,  and  admit  significant  dreams  as 
possible — and  who  does  not  ? — we  are  in  contact  with  a  conscious- 
ness which  is  capable  of  forewarning  or  prophecy — powers  far 
surpassing  its  waking  capacities.  Again,  sleep-walking  is  but  the 
dreamer  acting  out  the  dramatization  of  his  own  dreams,  as  the 
writer,  who  was  in  youth  a  somnambulist,  can  personally  testify. 
Many,  if  not  all,  the  phases  of  natural  somnambulism  are  so 
plainly  identical  with  those  of  induced  somnambulism,  or  the  hyp- 
notic states,  that  we  are  enabled  to  connect  these  conditions 
beyond  any  doubt.  And  in  hypnotic  or  induced  somnambulism, 
whether  self-induced  or  due  to  the  will  of  another,  we  forge  the 
last  a  id  strongest  link  which  binds  the  waking  consciousness  to 
one  almost  infinitely  higher  than  itself,  which  is  yet  truly  its  own 
self,  only  functioning  above  and  beyond  the  limitations  of  its 
material  sense  organs. 

In  studying  dream,  as  the  very  lowest  yet  most  universal  of 
these  states,  we  note  the  entrance  of  a  most  important  factor,  or 
the  use  by  the  dreaming  consciousness  of  entirely  new  concepts 
of  time  and  space.  It  is  a  well-known  and  admitted  physiolog- 
ical fact  that  dreams  which  in  the  waking  state  would  require 
years  of  time  for  their  enactment  find  in  the  dreaming  condi- 
tion that  even  a  moment  is  sufficient  for  the  dreaming  con- 
sciousness to  appreciate  them  in  their  most  minute  details.  Thus 
De  Quincey  had  one  dream  which  apparently  extended  over  some 
sixty  years,  but  which  actually  occupied  scarcely  as  many 
moments.  Uxhill,  also,  on  three  successive  nights,  not  only  saw 
his  whole  life  pass  in  review,  but  appreciated  its  moral  bearing.* 

Now,  the  fact  that  the  relation  of  the  thinking  Ego  to  time  con- 
ceptions is  changed  in  dream  is  one  whose  importance  cannot  be 
overestimated.  The  exact  speed  at  which  objective  stimuli  are 
transmitted  from  the  periphery  to  the  brain  centers  is  well  known. 
In  like  manner,  the  time  required  by  the  consciousness  to  record 
visual  perceptions  is  also  subject  to  accurate  measurement,  as  has 
been  pointed  out  by  Helmholtz,  Fechner,  and  others.  Since  it  is 
the  same  "I"  which  perceives  both  in  the  waking  state  and  in 
dreams,  and  since  perception,  in  the  waking  state,  can  only  pro- 
ceed at  a  definite,  measurable  rate  of  speed,  if  we  find  in  dream 

*Du  Prel,  Philosophic  der  Mystic. 


THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  39 

this  same  "I"  recording  perceptions  at  a  rate  a  million  times 
greater  than  that  which  its  physical  organ,  or  brain,  is  capable  of 
registering,  it  follows  that  it  can  not  be  using  this  physical  organ, 
and  is  therefore  not  limited  to  the  latter  for  its  manifestations  of 
consciousness.  This  alone  proves  that  we  possess  a  consciousness 
independent  of  the  body,  and,  therefore,  a  soul,  beyond  all  cavil 
or  dispute. 

Of  the  nature  of  dreams  are  the  cases  of  partial  drowning, 
where  the  whole  life  of  the  individual  passes  in  review,  to  its  most 
minute  detail,  during  the  brief  interval  in  which  the  higher  con- 
sciousness is  permitted  to  function  through  the  suppression  of  the 
lower  by  the  physical  asphyxiation  and  psychic  exaltation  which 
accompany  the  act.  In  the  same  category  are  the  well-authenti- 
cated facts  of  the  entire  suppression  of  pain  during  the  burning  of 
both  witches  and  martyrs.  Through  the  tremendous  psychic 
exaltation  upon  such  occasions,  the  consciousness  is  transferred  to 
higher  states  and  the  body  burns  without  giving  the  soul  any  con- 
cern— it  feeling,  in  the  supreme  arousing  of  its  faculties,  that  its 
existence  is  not  dependent  upon  its  body  in  any  degree. 

The  power  of  the  center  of  consciousness,  or  soul,  to  use  differ- 
ing vehicles  for  its  manifestation  is  the  key  to  all  hypnotic  and 
supersensuous  states.  It  is, their  only  rational  explanation.  For 
if  the  threshold  of  consciousness  is  displaced  to  any  marked 
extent,  or,  in  other  words,  if  the  center  of  consciousness  which 
constitutes  the  human  soul  uses  an  inner  vehicle,  the  new  stimuli 
relate  it  to  such  unfamiliar  phenomena  that  it  often  seems  even 
to  itself  to  be  another  consciousness — to  belong  to  some  other 
person.  This  has  been  well  shown  by  the  experiments  of  Binet 
and  FreVe*,  in  France.  In  these,  the  permitting  of  the  inner  Ego 
to  function  through  the  suppression  of  the  limiting  sense  organs  by 
hypnosis  caused  an  ignorant  peasant  woman,  for  example,  to  so 
widen  her  conscious  area  as  to  refuse  to  believe  that  she  was 
identical  with  the  stupid  "  Janet"  of  her  ordinary  unhypnotized 
experience. 

This  non-recognition  of  the  functions  and  powers  of  the  soul 
accounts  for  most,  if  not  all,  the  cases  of  "  spirit  guides"  and 
"controls"  in  mediums  and  hypnotics;  for  the  ordinary  medium- 
istic  or  trance  "  control,"  or  "  guide,"  is  only  a  case  of  self- 
hypnosis,  where  a  dramatization  of  the  inner  consciousness  takes 
on  the  part  of  such  guide,  adviser,  or  prevaricator,  according  as 


4O  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

the  medium  or  hypnotic  rises  to  a  higher  or  lower  plane  of  his  or 
her  being. 

It  may  be  objected,  in  this  relation,  that  these  particular  mani- 
festations of  the  powers  of  the  soul  are  morbid,  because  con- 
nected with  morbid  conditions.  But  this  does  not  follow.  As 
well  hold  the  light  which  passes  through  a  lens  to  be  abnormal, 
and  not  really  light,  because  the  process  of  polishing  and  shaping 
the  lens  which  permits  of  its  being  focused  is  unusual,  or  because 
the  capacity  to  focus  light  is  not  a  property  of  the  stone  in  its 
natural  condition. 

All  such  phenomena  must  be  carefully  studied,  analyzed,  and 
classified  by  science  before  it  can  impose  its  dictum  upon  the 
results  of  investigations  in  regions  which  it  proudly  refuses  to  enter. 
Nor  can  it  be  expected  to  lead  investigation  or  thought.  It  has 
always  been  the  unrelenting  opposer  of  new  ideas,  as  the  new 
ideas  in  their  turn  have  always  been  the  deadliest  foes  of  the 
old.  It  was  scientific  authority,  as  expressed  in  a  little  body  of 
men,  who,  having  mastered  the  externals  of  existing  thought, 
and  thus  filled  the  measure  of  their  own  capacity,  railed  when 
Harvey  asserted  that  the  blood  circulated  through  the  human 
body;  when  Stevenson  foretold  the  speed  and  usefulness  of  steam 
vehicles;  and  so  on,  through  a  long  list  of  similar  counts;  and 
which  to-day  looks  on  with  solemn  discontent  as  birds  float 
through  the  air  in  direct  violation  of  its  conceptions  of  the  laws 
of  physics,  dynamics,  and  gravitation.  For  the  same  force, 
applied  in  the  same  manner,  and  attached  to  the  same  proportion 
of  weight,  when  put  into  a  "  scientific"  machine  refuses  to  fly. 
And  yet  no  field  is  so  full  of  proofs  of  the  existence  and  function- 
ing of  a  divine  soul  as  that  found  in  the  marvelous  collection  of 
facts,  and  deductions  of  design  and  intelligence  therefrom,  which 
are  the  result  of  scientific  inquiry. 

But  whether  or  not  man  has  a  soul,  it  is  evident  that  he 
exhibits  mental  and  spiritual  powers  which  can  not  be  connected 
with  nor  explained  by  his  material  organism.  All  the  conscious 
aspects  of  his  being  are  sui  generis,  and  not  derivable  in  any 
manner  from  his  material  aspects.  Yet  under  the  philosophic 
axiom  that  any  law  must  necessarily  be  universal  in  its  action  to 
exist  at  all,  this  conscious  energy  which  he  exhibits  must  fall 
under  the  same  law  of  conservation  which  obtains  under 
material  conditions.  And  this  conservation  of  mental  energy 


THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  41 

requires  a  mental  vehicle,  and  one  capable  of  passing  from  body  to 
body  upon  the  death  of  these ;  else  the  mental  energy  of  one  life 
is  not  conserved  and  carried  over  to  the  next,  as  its  true  conserv- 
ation demands.  Thus  a  reincarnating  soul  is  directly  pointed 
out  and  connected  with  the  body  by  the  two  greatest  general- 
izations of  modern  science — the  conservation  of  force  and  the  law 
of  evolution.  For  either  subjective  energy,  intellect,  emotion,  will, 
etc.,  are  stored  up  in  and  transmitted  under  the  law  of  force  con- 
servation by  a  soul,  or  this  law,  as  well  as  that  of  evolution,  is 
violated.  Intelligence  can  only  be  conserved  by  intelligence,  and 
its  evolution  thus  lies  necessarily  along  its  own,  or  subjective, 
lines  In  other  words,  the  cause  must  be  equal  to  the  effect;  and 
intelligence  can  only  be  the  creation  of  and  transmitted  by  intel- 
ligence. One  sees  at  once  how  immense  must  be  the  waste 
of  energy  manifesting  as  intellect  or  intuition  if  the  process  of  its 
evolution  has  to  be  begun  anew  with  each  new  babe  born  on 
earth,  to  be  again  cut  short  by  death  when  perhaps  at  its  very 
highest  evolutionary  activity,  unless  that  energy  is  carried  for- 
ward from  personality  to  personality  by  means  of  the  repeated 
reincarnation  of  the  soul.  If,  then,  the  energies  of  the  soul  obey, 
as  they  must,  the  law  of  force  conservation,  reincarnation 
becomes  an  absolute  necessity. 

There  is  another  point  overlooked  by  science.  For  intelligence 
to  supervene  upon  unintelligent  matter,  under  the  play  of  blind 
force,  demands  as  great  an  effort  of  the  imagination  and  faith  as 
the  exploded  theological  theory  of  creation  out  of  nothing.  In 
the  face  of  this,  science  has  ever  sought  to  find  the  source  of 
intelligence  in  some  nook  or  by-way  of  matter,  forgetting  that  mat- 
ter shows  only  the  evidence  of  the  presence  of  intelligence,  not 
its  underlying  source.  The  key  to  the  confusion  lies  in  the  fact 
of  subconscious  thought,  which  is  none  the  less  thought  because 
acting  below  the  plane  of  self-consciousness.  Thought  is  of  every 
plane  in  the  Cosmos ;  the  very  stones  have  their  manasic  princi- 
ple. Thought  and  organization  go  on  side  by  side  unconsciously 
until  the  plane  of  self-consciousness  is  reached,  when  man  sud- 
denly becomes  aware  of  both  a  thinking  and  a  conscious  principle 
within  him.  This  does  not  imply  that  either  or  both  were  absent 
on  the  planes  below.  Remember  that  thought,  as  we  have 
pointed  out,  comes  into  the  mind  ready  made,  and  is  the  ideation 
of  the  Higher  Ego,  the  rationale  of  which  will  be  explained  in  the 


42  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

chapter  which  deals  directly  with  that  subject.  Meanwhile,  it  is 
plainly  seen  that  the  soul  is  conscious  on  lower  planes  by  self- 
prescribing,  etc.,  and,  in  varying  degree,  upon  higher  ones  by 
clairvoyance  and  prophetic  vision. 

When  man's  consciousness  is  limited  to  the  coarser  stimuli 
transmitted  by  his  physical  senses,  it  can  only  function  on  the 
physical  plane.  In  this  condition  it  is  termed  the  lower  Ego,  or 
personality.  When  these  senses  are  suspended  by  sleep,  trance, 
or  death,  his  consciousness  functions  on  interior  and  higher  planes 
until  again  aroused — by  awakening,  in  the  one  case,  and  by 
reincarnation  in  the  other — to  the  old  physical  stimuli.  This  latter 
consciousness,  which  passes  in  sleep  or  death  to  purely  spiritual 
planes,  we  term  the  Higher  or  true  Ego,  because  it  is  not  limited 
by  its  physical  envelope,  is  untouched  by  the  changes  of  state  we 
know  as  birth  and  death,  and  transmits  its  constantly  increasing 
increment  of  wisdom  and  intelligence  from  body  to  body  by 
means  of  its  reincarnation.  The  threshold  of  physical  conscious- 
ness is  the  dividing  line  between  the  Higher  Ego  and  lower  per- 
sonality. It  embraces  a  large  field  of  more  or  less  confused  con. 
scious  states  before  it  merges  into  the  pure  spiritual  consciousness 
of  the  Higher  Ego,  upon  the  one  side,  or  into  the  purely  sensuous 
consciousness  of  the  personality,  upon  the  other.  As  the  phys. 
ical  senses  and  sensitiveness  to  the  finer  vibrations  of  astral  mat. 
ter  constitute  this  threshold,  each  man  has  of  necessity  a  differ- 
ing consciousness  both  of  Higher  Ego  and  lower  personality 
from  all  other  men.  Taken  together,  they  represent  the  sum  of 
the  wisdom  and  knowledge  acquired  throughout  the  entire  series 
of  his  rebirths,  or  reincarnations.  The  personal  consciousness  is 
limited  by  the  particular  body  it  is  inhabiting.  The  body,  again, 
is  the  result  of  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  running  through  the 
affinities  which  govern  its  selection,  and  which  Theosophy  terms 
"karma,"  or  sequence,  or  the  unvarying  succession  of  cause  and 
effect  upon  all  planes,  physical,  psychic,  and  intellectual. 

If  it  be  asked  why  man's  personal  consciousness  has  not  yet 
reached  the  point  where  he  is  sensible  of  these  finer  forces,  it  is 
answered  that  the  coarser  the  force  the  quicker  the  evolution  of 
the  organ  to  express  it.  The  finer,  more  spiritual  forces  have  not 
yet  had  biological  time  to  evolve  organs,  especially  as  it  would 
seem  that  this  evolution  must  largely  consist  in  rendering  more 
delicate  and  sensitive  those  man  now  possesses.  By  these,  the 


THE   PSYCHOLOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  43 

eye  and  ear  are  not  so  much  referred  to  as  analogous  organs  for 
psychic  and  spiritual  perception,  which  man  now  possesses — at 
least  in  a  rudimentary  condition. 

But  the  time  will  come,  and  in  fact  is  now  here  for  certain  indi- 
viduals of  the  race,  when  clairvoyance,  thought  transference,  intui- 
tion, and  many  other  spiritual  faculties  will  be  as  normal  as  is 
sense  perception  at  present.  They  are  simply  natural  faculties 
of  man's  Higher  Ego,  or  soul,  struggling  into  the  domain  of  self- 
consciousness.  In  this  soul,  or  Higher  Ego,  is  the  true  individu- 
ality, the  real  life,  and  consciousness.  The  personality  is  but 
the  bundle  of  sense  organs  through  which  we  gather  experience 
and  wisdom  under  material  conditions  which  is  our  present  area 
of  activity.  The  Higher  Ego  represents  all  that  we  have  become 
since  we  assumed  control  of  our  own  destinies. 

The  personality  represents  the  amount  of  this  stored  wisdom 
which  any  particular  body  is  capable  of  expressing;  remembering 
that  all  bodies  (sense  organs)  limit  consciousness,  instead  of  cre- 
ating it.  But  this  limitation  falls  under  the  universal  law  of  cause 
and  effect,  and  is  therefore  in  each  life  brought  about  by  the  deeds 
of  those  of  the  past,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  proper  connection. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL 

91  STUDY  of  the  evolution  *  of  the  human  soul  implies  and 
C^  necessitates  a  primary  examination  of  the  processes  of  evolu- 
tion generally.  Man  is  but  a  factor  in  nature — a  part  of  the 
finite  expression  of  the  inexpressible  Infinite, — and  differs  only  in 
degree  from  entities  both  above  and  below  him  in  the  scale  of 
being.  To  arrive  at  his  basic  principles,  to  discover  the  modus  oper- 
andi  of  the  law  of  evolution  under  whose  action  he  has  reached 
his  present  standpoint,  we  have  to  turn  to  the  universal  cosmic 
factors  which  are  equally  the  cause  of  man  and  of  his  every 
environment,  whether  material,  intellectual,  or  spiritual. 

Certain  recent  experiments  in  physics,  as  well,  also,  as  studies 
in  mathematics,  indicate  hitherto  unsuspected  facts  concerning 
natural  phenomena,  which  have  a  profound  bearing  upon  our  con- 
ceptions of  evolution.  For  instance:  We  have  been  taught  by 
modern  Western  science  to  believe  that  force  is  most  active  and 
most  potent  in  molecular  or  grossly  material  conditions,  and  that 
as  we  retreat  to  those  more  subjective  it  becomes  less  and  less 
potent,  until  when  thought  or  mental  states  are  reached  it  ceases 
to  exist  as  force  at  all.  Having  passed  the  uttermost  limits  of 
our  ability  to  pursue  or  detect  it  by  physical  means,  it,  of  course, 
no  longer  exists,  unless  we  ascend  to  its  higher  retreats.  Natur- 
ally, all  experiments  which  deal  with  the  purely  physical  seem  to 
warrant  this  conclusion;  especially  those  in  which  our  very 
thoughts  have  been  measured  by  molecular  vibrations,  expressed 
in  a  rise  of  temperature  of  the  superficies  of  our  brain,  and  which 
expression  becomes  more  and  more  faint  as  our  thoughts  become 
more  and  more  interior  and  subjective.  But  the  behavior  of 
water  even,  when  changed  into  vapor  by  heat,  ought  to  have 
aroused  suspicion  that  higher  states  of  matter  contain  greater 
potencies  than  lower.  And  the  liberation  of  "  inter-etheric"  force 
by  Keeley,  backed  by  the  behavior  and  potencies  of  electricity, 

*The  human  soul  can  not  be  said  to  "evolve,"  in  the  scientific  acceptation  of  this  term, 
which  is  one-sided,  as  is  most  materialistic  nomenclature.  It  is  retained  because  convenient, 
and  because  its  real  meaning  will  be  made  clear  in  the  context. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  45 

together  with  numerous  other  phenomena,  show  us  that  what  we 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  considering  as  the  very  essence  of  force 
is  only  the  driftwood,  so  to  speak,  cast  upon  the  shores  of  the 
great  seas  and  oceans  of  potential  energies  in  which  we  have  our 
being. 

Force  being,  like  Substance  and  Consciousness,  an  attribute  of 
the  Absolute,  must  have  infinite  potencies.  Hence,  it  logically 
follows  that  the  nearer  we  penetrate  to  Absolute  and  eternal 
states  of  matter  and  consciousness  the  more  stupendous  and 
inconceivable  become  the  forces  which  have  there  their  normal 
field  of  activity.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  emptiness,  the  utter 
void,  in  our  conception,  of  the  interstellar  or  ethereal  spaces  lying 
between  planets  or  suns.  "  Ether"  has  become  a  synonym  for  a 
state  of  matter  which,  while  necessary  to  account  for  certain  phe- 
nomena, is  still  considered  so  tenuous  that  it  is  practically  non- 
existent, and  hydrogen  gas  becomes  by  comparison  with  it  as 
dense  as  iron.  Yet  out  of  this  ether,  when  manipulated  by 
knowledge,  appears  an  energy  before  which  all  purely  physical 
forces  are  brushed  aside,  as  are  wisps  of  vapor  in  the  path  of  a 
cannon-ball.  The  only  reason  for  the  existence  and  relative  per- 
manency of  the  forces  and  matter  of  this  phenomenal  world  lies 
in  the  fact  that  they  are  out  of  direct  relation  to,  and  only  sus- 
tain those  distantly  harmonic  with,  the  forces  of  higher  ones; 
that  for  astral,  ethereal,  and  akasic  matter  our  own  "physical  basis 
of  life"  is  practically  non-existent.  The  ethereal  vibrations  play 
through  our  earth,  our  bodies  and  our  senses  even  without  pro- 
ducing any  effect  upon  our  consciousness,  or,  as  far  as  analogy 
permits  us  to  suppose,  our  affecting  by  our  presence  the  con- 
sciousness of  entities  ensouled  by  this  higher  form  of  matter. 

Of  course,  this  earth  is  not  out  of  all  relation  to  inner  states  of 
matter  and  modes  of  force,  but  it  is  out  of  direct  relation  thereto. 
Physical  matter  is  the  production  of  forces  having  their  origin  in 
vibrations  in  these  interior  states;  but  before  such  force  is  con- 
verted into  physical  terms  it  passes  through  many  gradations,  each 
removing  it  more  and  more  from  the  potencies  of  those  infinite 
storehouses  of  energy  from  which  the  Cosmos  springs  into  being. 

Bearing  in  mind,  then,  that  force  becomes  more  and  more 
potent  as  it  retires  to  realms  which  to  us  are  more  and  more  sub- 
jective, we  can  approach  the  subject  of  evolution  with  a  better  con- 
ception of  the  nature  of  the  problems  to  be  solved.  For  evolu- 


46  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

tion  is  not,  in  this  view,  the  study  of  the  process  of  "  creation  out 
of  nothing" — the  task  set  themselves  by  theologians  and 
theology-biased  philosophers; — but,  rather,  the  method  by  which 
the  Absolute  or  Infinite  Force,  Matter,  and  Consciousness,  limits 
itself  and  becomes  the  finite  as  revealed  to  man.  We  are  not 
troubled  at  all  by  the  insufficiency  of  the  cause,  but  by  the 
apparent  limiting  in  time  and  space  of  the  effects  of  a  necessarily 
unlimited  Causeless  Cause.  One  thing  seems  certain — that,  as 
has  been  expressed  by  a  recent  writer,*  "  if  Infinite  Being  is  to 
be  manifested  in  finite  existence,  it  must  be  through  infinite 
variations  of  the  finite."  The  law  of  infinite  variation,  indeed, 
would  seem  to  be  one  of  the  methods  by  which  the  Infinite 
expresses  itself  without  lessening  its  own  infinity.  Another 
means  by  which,  from  our  point  of  view,  the  Absolute  and  Uncon- 
ditioned becomes  the  finite  and  conditioned,  is  in  the  all-pervad- 
ing and  unbroken  law  of  cycles.  In  some  form  or  degree,  cyclic 
activity  marks  all  existence  or  evolution,  from  that  of  a  molecule 
to  that  of  a  manvantara.  Still  another  of  these  basic  general- 
izations which  have  their  common  root  in  the  Unknowable  is  the 
absolute  sway  of  Cause  and  Effect  in  all  realms  of  nature,  from 
the  highest  and  most  super-spiritual  to  the  lowest  and  most  mate- 
rial. It  is  a  logical  conclusion  that  all  absolutely  unvarying  laws, 
modes  of  motion,  or  states  of  consciousness,  are  direct  aspects  of 
the  Absolute ;  and  that  by  means  of  them  we  may  approach  to 
at  least  a  partial  conception  of  some  plarfes  of  the  Great  Source 
of  all  life  and  being.  Such  would  appear  to  be  those  we  have 
cited,  viz.:  Infinite  potentiality  reflected  in  infinite  variation  of 
the  finite;  Absolute  permanency  of  Being,  shown  in  the  absolute 
sway  of  Cause  and  Effect;  and  eternal  Duration  in  the  unending, 
universal  cycles  which  enable  Duration  to  manifest  as  Time. 

To  the  above,  we  hav3  to  add  the  unavoidable  deduction 
that  there  can  not  be  opposing  factors  in  the  universe,  whether 
existing  as  force,  matter,  or  consciousness;  because  these  would 
be  either  equal,  and  produce  universal  inertia,  or  unequal,  in  wh  ch 
case  the  greater  must  necessarily  have  overcome  the  lesser  in  the 
unthinkable  durations  of  the  eternities  of  the  past.  An  early  con- 
ception of  the  importance  of  this  simple  and  logical  law,  that  unity 
in  essence  must  underlie  every  manifestation  in  nature,  however 
differentiated  and  opposed  such  manifestations  may  appear,  will 

•Geometric  Psychology. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  47 

clear  away  a  mass  of  theological  rubbish  from  our  first  postulates, 
at  the  very  outset.  If  all  matter,  force,  and  consciousness  pro- 
ceed from  unity,  even  though  that  unity  remain  for  us  an  Unknow- 
able Causeless  Cause,  still  it  effectually  excludes  the  possibility 
of  evil,  as  such,  from  the  cosmic  scheme.  Hence,  Satans,  Ahri- 
mans,  Beelzebubs,  or  Plutos  are  relegated  to  realms  of  ignorance 
and  fear  in  which  they  had  their  birth,  and  good  and  evil  become 
only  relative  and  conditioned  aspects  of  the  play  of  the  absolute, 
impersonal  law  of  Cause  and  Effect. 

A  study  of  evolution  in  general,  then,  is  necessarily  prefaced 
by  the  admission  or  postulating  of  three  great  Aspects  of  the  one 
Unknowable  Root,  or  Causeless  Cause.  These  are,  as  already 
pointed  out,  Consciousness,  Substance,  and  Force.  Conscious- 
ness, often  referred  to  as  "spirit,"  embraces  all  that  manifestation 
of  the  Absolute  which  we  term  subjective.  Substance  is  the  root 
of  all  matter  and  form,  or  the  Object*  side  of  nature,  while  Force 
or  Motion  relates  the  one  to  the  other  and  causes  all  the  bewilder- 
ing complexity  of  form  and  function  in  the  Cosmos.  The  abso- 
lute potentialities  of  Consciousness,  Force,  and  Matter  are  and 
must  ever  remain  infinite  and  unchanged.  Yet  the  degree  to 
which  each  is  manifested  in  successive  Universes  must  ever 
remain  relative  and  finite.  Hence,  all  the  vast  scheme  of  evo- 
lution which  we  perceive  in  nature  is  due  solely  to  the  correlations 
and  combinations  of  these  three  Immutable  and  Universal  Bases. 
We  can  not  say,  even  at  the  end  of  a  great  manvantara,  or  the 
duration  of  a  Universe,  that  anything  has  been  added  to  the  sum 
total  of  the  Force,  Consciousness,  or  Matter  within  the  great 
Mother  and  Container  of  all — Space.  Only  their  mutual  rela- 
tions have  been  somewhat  changed.  Consciousness,  which  before 
existed  as  an  undifferentiated  part  of  the  Whole,  has  acquired 
Self-Consciousness,  or  a  new  quality  or  potency;  but  as  Con- 
sciousness per  se  it  remains  unmodified.  So  of  Force  and  Sub- 
stance ;  they  have  been  brought  into  newer  and  perhaps  grander 
correlations,  but  as  basic  potentialities  they  remain  unaltered. 
Nor  can  an  end  of  this  change  of  relation,  or  evolution  as  it 
appears  to  us,  ever  be  predicated,  for  infinite  potentialities  of 
variation  require  infinite  time  for  their  manifestation.  A  dim 
conception  of  the  possibilities  of  changes  and  of  conscious  experi- 
ences which  never  had  a  beginning,  and  of  which  no  end  can  be 

*Cf.  Secret  Doctrine,  Vol    I,  page  16. 


48  A   STUDY   OF    THE   SOUL. 

predicated,  may  be  had  f:om  a  study  of  the  law  of  permutation. 
The  combinations  possible  with  two  elements  are  but  two,  but 
with  three  they  rise  to  six;  with  four,  to  twenty-four;  with  five  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty;  and  so  on,  ever  increasing  until  we  are 
driven  to  the  recognition  that  an  infinite  series  of  atoms,  such  as 
are  at  the  base  of  physical  manifestation,  even,  must  be  capable 
of  infinite  combinations  and  correlations,  and  hence  require  infinite 
duration  for  that  manifestation. 

Approaching  the  survey  of  evolution  from  its  material  or  Sub- 
stance Aspect — the  only  one  recognized  by  modern  science — we 
may  obtain  a  relative  and  limited  idea  of  the  manner  in  which 
matter  takes  on  or  descends  into  objective  form  by  the  following 
illustration : 

Imagine  a  large  vessel  or  receptacle  filled  with  a  solution  of 
some  salt  to  the  saturation  point  when  heated  to  100°.  As  long 
as  this  temperature  is  maintained  the  solution  is  perfectly  trans- 
parent. No  one  would  suspect  any  solid  material  hidden  in  its 
crystal  clearness.  But  now  let  the  rate  of  vibration  be  changed 
in  the  fluid ;  let  the  temperature  fall  to,  say,  60°,  and  out  of  that 
which  was  before  so  clear,  crystallizes  a  solid  mass  which  renders 
the  whole  solution  translucent,  opaque,  or  it  may  so  change  its 
molecular  relations  as  to  cause  it  to  become  a  solid. 

From  this  comparison  we  may  at  least  faintly  conceive  of  that 
which  transpires  within  the  Universe  at  the  dawn  of  a  manvan- 
tara;  for  then  Space  may  be  likened  to  a  clear,  transparent,  ethe- 
real fluid,  holding  in  potentiality  the  future  Universe,  which,  so  to 
speak,  crystallizes  out  by  a  change  of  vibration  within  this  uni- 
versal, homogeneous  substance. 

If  we  imagine  matter  as  it  exists  upon  our  earth  to  pass  into 
greater  and  still  greater  degrees  of  attenuation  and  dissociation — 
as,  for  example,  when  iron  become  gaseous — we  will  arrive  ulti- 
mately at  a  state  in  which  it  is  evenly  distributed  throughout  the 
Cosmos,  and  subjected  to  conditions  so  different  from  any  that 
now  obtain,  or  at  least  that  we  can  perceive,  that  we  can  no 
longer  term  it  matter,  but,  rather,  as  approximating  that  eternal 
Substance,  its  (to  us)  subjective  Root.  To  aid  in  forming  some 
idea  of  the  extreme  attenuation  and  molecular  dissociation 
to  which  matter  in  its  cosmic  condition  is  thus  subjected,  it  is 
necessary  to  remember  how  minute  the  specks  we  know  as 
planets  are  when  compared  to  the  space  in  which  they  revolve. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  49 

The  old  illustration  of  Herschel  as  to  the  immense  distances 
involved  in  visible  space  may  aid  us  here: 

Suppose  one  wished  to  construct  a  model  of  the  solar  system 
in  which  its  proportions,  though  reduced,  would  be  accurately 
preserved ;  and  that  for  this  purpose  he  should  take  a  globe  two 
feet  in  diameter  to  represent  the  sun.  Then  the  earth,  reduced 
to  a  corresponding  size  and  in  its  proper  position,  would  be  repre- 
sented by  a  pea  placed  at  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
feet  from  the  globe;  Jupiter,  by  an  orange,  placed  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away;  and  Neptune,  our  farthest  planet,  by  a  plum,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  On  the  same  scale,  Sirius,  one  of 
the  brightest  fixed  stars,  would  be  removed  to  the  distance  of 
forty  thousand  miles,  so  that  it  would  require  a  space  of  nearly 
twice  the  entire  circumference  of  the  earth  for  a  model  to  be  con- 
structed in  which  the  earth  is  represented  by  a  pea!  Now,  Sirius 
is  not  the  nearest  star;  but  the  very  closest  one  to  our  sun — 
Alpha  Centaur — is  20,000,000,000,000,000  of  miles  distant,  and 
within  at  least  one-third  of  this  vast  extent  of  space  our  sun 
and  his  little  band  of  planets  represent  all  the  visible  matter, 
except  a  few  wandering  comets  and  systems  of  meteors. 

We  know  matter  in  three  states — solid,  liquid,  and  gaseous; 
and  the  experiments  of  Prof.  Crooke  prove  a  fourth  state — that 
of  "radiant  matter" — as  demonstrable  to  our  senses.  If  beyond 
this  fourth,  or  radiant,  state  we  could  imagine,  if  ever  so  dimly, 
the  three  following  and  still  higher  states,  recognized  and  taught 
by  Theosophy,  we  would  have  a  dim  conception  of  that  original 
Substance  out  of  which  the  material  portion  of  this  universe  is 
fashioned,  when  the  dawn  of  a  manvantara  awakens  it  once  more 
to  sentient  life. 

The  Infinite  Universe,  then,  is  filled,  from  a  material  stand- 
point, with  that  which  holds  both  the  potency  and  potentiality  of 
matter.  It  also  holds  the  potentiality  and  potencies  of  spirit,  or 
consciousness;  being,  besides,  in  its  aspect  of  ever-present,  inde- 
structible space,  the  arena  of  that  force  which  we  know  to  be 
equally  eternal  under  its  objectivized  aspect  of  motion.  Thus,  at 
the  dawn  of  differentiation,  at  the  beginning  of  the  "out-breathing 
of  Brahm,"  or  the  manvantaric  activity  following  the  "inbreathing" 
or  universal  pralaya,  three  hypostases  of  the  Absolute — potential 
Matter,  potential  Thought,  and  potential  Force — are  held  con- 
cealed, in  some  inconceivable  way,  within  the  bosom  of  Space, 


50  A    STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

as  our  salt  was  also  concealed  within  the  solution  which  we  have 
used  as  a  symbol.  And  the  material  side  of  the  Unknowable 
Triad  is  probably  concealed  in  a  precisely  similar  manner,  or  by 
the  rate  of  its  vibration.  For  Theosophy  accepts  the  matter  of 
science,  and  its  force,  or  motion,  also;  but  it  avers,  most  uncom- 
promisingly, that  the  former  is  molded  and  shaped  by  the  latter 
through  a  third  eternal  predicate,  Intelligence,  under  the  aspects 
of  Consciousness  and  Ideation.  Hence,  when  one  great  rhythm 
of  the  Universe  has  expended  its  original  impetus  in  a  manvan- 
taric  objectivization,  and  has  returned  into  the  Silence  and  Dark- 
ness of  Non-Being  until  again  at  the  initial  moment  of  another 
outward  flow  of  the  never-ceasing  Motion — at  this  point  Intelligent 
Beings  assume  control,  and,  by  ideative  Will,  guide  the  vibrations 
of  the  eternal  motion,  so  that  matter  capable  of  exhibiting  form 
appears  as  a  consequence  of  this  modification  or  change  of  vibra- 
tion in  the  eternal  Motion.  Yet,  as  Absolute  Force  or  Motion 
can  not  be  added  to  nor  diminished,  so  this  modification  of  vibra- 
tion must  eventually  be  overcome,  and  the  Universe  return  to  its 
original  condition,  to  again  re-emerge  in  form  when  the  reaction- 
ary swing  of  the  pendulum  of  eternity  has  described  its  arc,  and 
so  permits  of  another  effort  on  the  part  of  these  Creative  Intelli- 
gences. Thus  the  law  of  cycles  controls  even  this  inconceivable 
period  which  measures  the  duration  of  an  Universe.  Like  the 
intermittent  glow  of  a  firefly  to  one  who  watches  the  flight  of  the 
insect  must  appear  even  these  vast  successions  of  Universes  to 
Intelligences  behind  the  Veil  of  Isis,  who  remain  forever 
untouched  by  any  dissolution  of  form.  At  the  outward  flow  of 
the  eternal  Motion,  for  them,  nebulae,  suns,  and  systems  blaze 
into  a  fleeting  existence;  at  the  "  inbreathing  of  Brahm"  all  disap- 
pear; and  this  in  an  eternal  succession  of  exact  cycles.  These 
cycles,  so  transitory  in  eternity,  are  so  vast  in  time  that  reason 
reels  in  the  effort  to  conceive  of  them.  The  nature  of  the  initiatory 
impress  of  these  Formless  Creative  Intelligences  from  its  con- 
scious aspect  is  seen  in  the  unerring  selective  "  affinities"  of  atoms ; 
from  its  Force  Aspect  it  is  undoubtedly  a  modification  or  change 
of  vibration. 

As  the  result  of  this  primal  modification  of  vibration,  matter 
throughout  the  Universe  assumes  a  state  which  the  Book  of 
Dzyan^  quoted  in  the  Secret  Doctrine,  describes  as  resembling 
"milk-white  curds."  These  curds,  which  must  be  conceived  of  as 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  51 

infinitely  more  attenuated  than  the  ether  of  science,  are  next 
brought  by  the  agent  through  which  cosmic  intelligence  acts  upon 
cosmic  matter,  known  in  Eastern  Occultism  as  Fohat,  into  forms 
described  as  "  fiery  whirlwinds,"  or  that  in  which  magnetic  attrac- 
tion alone  is  controlling  the  vibration.  Gravitation,  representing 
a  response  to  much  lower  rates  of  vibration  and  coarser  aggrega- 
tions of  particles,  only  acts  after  the  finer  magnetic  forces  have 
prepared  the  necessary  conditions  permitting  this  form  of  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion  to  obtain  a  foothold  among  the  sentient  atoms. 
This  stage  in  the  evolution  of  matter  up  through  the  domain  of 
that  force  we  hazily  describe  as  "magnetic,"  into  the  field  where 
the  lower  activity  of  gravity  obtains,  may  be  traced  in  the  form 
of  some  nebulae,  whose  arrangement  of  matter  still  shows  evidences 
of  the  original  "  whirlwind"  force  in  the  magnetic  disposition  of 
their  contents.* 

From  the  time  of  the  evolution  of  matter  into  the  nebulous  con- 
dition, the  after  processes  are  comparatively  easy  to  trace.  Indeed, 
many  of  the  subsequent  evolutionary  strides  of  Fohat  are  plainly 
visible  within  the  limits  of  our  own  little  solar  system.  The  differ- 
ing degrees  of  density  from  Neptune  to  Mercury;  the  state  of  mat- 
ter in  the  sun;  the  dead  moon,  now  in  a  minor  pralaya,or  rest;  the 
comets  which  occasionally  visit  our  region  of  space — all  illustrate 
degie^s  of  differentiation,  and  different  states  of  that  which,  known 
to  us  only  by  its  external  attributes  and  not  by  its  inner  essence, 
we  term  matter. 

Yet  this  Material  Aspect  of  evolution  is  incomplete,  and  indeed 
incomprehensible,  except  in  the  light  of  its  Conscious  Aspect. 
This  brings  us  to  the  direct  consideration  of  those  High  Intelli- 
gences from  whom  proceed  the  wisdom  to  plan  and  the  energy  to 
stamp  that  original  impress  upon  the  plastic  "  root  of  matter" 
which  remains  an  indelible  and  unalterable  law  for  it  throughout 
all  its  subsequent  transformations  and  evolutionary  processes. 
Here  we  approach  the  real  problem ;  and  here,  in  common  with 
all  religious  and  philosophical  systems,  we  have  to  postulate  a 

*One  of  the  first  discoveries  made  by  means  of  the  Lick  telescope,  at  Mt.  Hamilton.  Cali- 
fornia, was  this  "  whirlwind"  disposition  of  the  matter  of  some  of  the  nebulas.  Prof.  Holden, 
in  an  article  contributed  to  a  San  Francisco  journal,  announced  that  "  the  arrangement  of 
matter  in  some  of  these  nebulas  was  such  as  to  indicate  that  some  other  force  than  gravitation 
had  been  concerned  in  its  production."  Science  thus  most  unexpectedly  confirmed  the  asser- 
tion, made  some  time  previously  by  Madame  H.  P.  Blavatsky,  to  the  effect  that  if  scientists 
had  instruments  sufficiently  powerful  to  penetrate  and  resolve  certain  nebulae  they  would  dis- 
cover that  gravitation  was  not  the  universal  force  they  suppose  it  to  be. 


52  A    STUDY    OF    THE   SOUL. 

Causeless  Cause,  Omnipresent  and  Eternal,  and  having  the  Sub- 
stance, Force,  and  Conscious  Aspects  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  had,  and  upon  the  correlations  and  permutations  of 
which  all  evolution  depends.  The  late  Subba  Row,  in  his  lec- 
tures on  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  regarding  this  Absolute,  Causeless 
Cause,  writes: 

"  Even  the  so-called  atheists  have  never  denied  it.  Various  creeds  have 
adopted  various  theories  as  to  the  nature  of  this  Causeless  Cause.*  All  secta- 
rian disputes  have  arisen  not  from  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  its  existence, 
but  from  the  difference  of  the  attributes  which  man's  intellect  has  constantly 
tried  to  impose  upon  it.  Is  it  possible  to  know  anything  about  the  Causeless 
Cause?  No  doubt  it  is  possible  to  know  something  about  it.  It  is  possible  to 
know  all  about  its  manifestations,  though  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  human 
knowledge  to  penetrate  into  its  inmost  essence,  and  say  what  it  really  is  in 
itself.  We  know  that  it  is  subject  to  periods  of  activity  and  passivity.  When 
cosmic  pralaya  comes,  it  is  inactive;  and  when  evolution  commences,  it 
becomes  active.  But  even  the  real  reason  for  this  activity  and  passivity  is 
unintelligible  to  our  minds. 

"  This  Causeless  Cause,  or  Parabrahmam  of  the  Vedantin  philosophers,  is 
not  matter  nor  anything  like  matter.  It  is  not  even  consciousness,  because 
all  we  know  of  consciousness  is  with  reference  to  a  definite  organism.  What 
consciousness  is  or  will  be  when  separated  from  a  vehicle  in  which  to  function 
is  a  thing  utterly  inconceivable  to  us,  and  not  only  to  us  but  to  any  other 
intelligence  which  has  the  notion  of  self  or  Ego  in  it,  or  which  has  a  distinct, 
individualized  existence. 

"Of  course,  every  entity  in  this  Cosmos  must  come  under  the  head  of  Ego, 
Non-Ego,  or  Consciousness.  But  Parabrahmam,  the  Causeless  Cause,  does 
not  come  under  any  one  of  them.  Nevertheless,  it  seems  to  be  the  One 
source  of  which  Ego,  Non-Ego,  and  Consciousness  are  manifestations,  or 
modes  of  existence.  In  the  case  of  every  objective  consciousness,  we  know 
that  what  we  call  matter,  or  Non-Ego,  is,  after  all,  a  mere  bundle  of  attri- 
butes. But  whether  we  arrive  at  our  conclusion  by  logical  inference,  or 
whether  we  derive  it  from  innate  consciousness,  we  always  suppose  that  there 
is  an  entity — the  real  essence  of  the  thing  upon  which  all  these  attributes  are 
placed — which  bears  these  attributes  as  it  were,  the  essence  itself  being 
unknown  to  us. 

*The  learned  lecturer  throughout  termed  this  the  First  Cause,  but  as  he  evidently  meant 
that  which  Theosophy,  following  the  Secret  Doctrine,  recognizes  as  the  Causeless  Cause, 
reserving  the  term  First  Cause  for  the  creative  energy  in  manvantaric  activity,  I  have  accord- 
ingly taken  the  liberty  to  change  the  original  reading  in  accordance  with  this,  to  avoid 
unnecessary  confusion. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  53 

"Now,  this  Parabrahmam,  or  Causeless  Cause,  which  exists  before  all  things 
in  the  Cosmos,  is  the  one  essence  from  which  starts  into  existence  a  center  of 
energy  called  the  Logos.  In  almost  every  doctrine  is  formulated  the  existence 
of  a  center  of  spiritual  energy  which  is  unborn  and  eternal,  and  which  exists 
in  a  latent  condition  in  the  bosom  of  the  Causeless  Cause  at  the  time  of  pra- 
laya,  and  starts  as  a  center  of  conscious  energy  at  the  time  of  Cosmic  activity. 
It  is  the  first  Ego  in  the  Cosmos,  and  every  other  Ego  and  every  other  self  is 
but  its  reflection  or  manifestation.  It  is  the  great  mystery  in  the  Cosmos, 
with  reference  to  which  all  the  initiations  and  all  the  systems  of  philosophy 
have  been  devised.  It  is  not  material  nor  physical  in  its  constitution,  and  it 
is  not  objective;  it  is  not  different  in  substance  as  it  were,  or  in  essence,  from 
the  Causeless  Cause,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  it  is  different  from  it  in  hav- 
ing an  individualized  existence.  It  exists  in  a  latent  condition  in  the  Cause- 
less Cause  at  the  time  of  pralaya,  just  as  the  sense  of  Ego,  or  'I  am  I,'  is 
latent  in  man  during  sleep. 

"  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  Logos  is  but  a  single  center  of  energy 
which  is  manifested  by  Parabrahmam,  or  the  Causeless  Cause.  There  are 
innumerable  others.  Their  number  is  almost  infinite.  This  first  manifest- 
ation of  Parabrahmam  appears  to  it  as  Mulaprakriti." 

That  is  to  say,  the  first  conscious  Beings  in  the  Universe 
awaken  to  self-consciousness  to  find  themselves  in  material  forms 
or  vehicles,  precisely  as  we  awaken  to  consciousness  to  find  our- 
selves encased  in  these  physical  bodies.  We  know  that  our  "  I" 
is  not  the  same  as  the  matter  which  clothes  it;  similarly,  the 
Logoi  know  that  the  "  root"  of  matter  which  clothes  them  is  only 
a  clothing,  and  what  the  real  nature  and  essence  of  that  Cause- 
less Cause,  which  calls  into  objective  existence  both  the  "  I"  of 
the  Logoi  and  their  material  base,  is  as  unknowable  to  the  great 
and  primal  Ideation  expressed  in  those  First  Logoi  as  is  the 
source  of  "  I"  and  its  physical  vehicle  to  us. 

At  the  first  dawn  of  differentiation  and  consequent  evolution 
matter  has  impressed  upon  it,  from  these  First  Logoi — the  primal 
manifestation  of  Consciousness  in  the  Cosmos, — that  impulse  and 
directing  energy  which  will  carry  it  through  all  the  successive 
and  myriad  phases  of  its  succeeding  evolutionary  manifestations, 
to  the  time  when  the  Great  Pralaya,  or  Rest,  shall  interpose 
another  period  of  inactivity,  as  certainly  as  that  Niagara  will 
carry  over  its  sublime  cataracts  all  the  water  which  flows  into  it 
from  the  great  lakes.  Remember,  there  is  no  evolution  of  con- 
sciousness; but  only  an  evolution  of  matter  into  forms  fitted  to 


54  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

express  higher  and  higher  states  or  reflections  of  that  Absolute 
Consciousness,  which  it  is  just  as  absurd  and  unscientific  to  predi- 
cate any  additions  to  through  evolution,  or  in  any  other  manner, 
as  it  is  to  assume  the  "  creation"  of  new  matter.  The  matter  of 
the  Universe  is  a  whole,  which  can  not  be  added  to  nor  taken 
from;  Consciousness  is  also  a  whole,  alike  incapable  of  addition  to 
or  subtraction  from.  The  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other  is,  as 
already  pointed  out,  all  that  falls  under  the  law  of  evolution ;  the 
real  essence  of  both  remains  forever  untouched,  resting  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Causeless  Cause.  This  does  not  bar  from  our 
consideration  intelligent  supervision  over  the  evolutionary  impulse 
by  those  high,  Creative  Logoi  above  referred  to.  For  the  whole 
scheme  of  evolution,  so  far  as  it  seems  comprehensible  to  finite 
beings,  consists  in  and  has  for  its  motive  the  changing  of  the 
relations  between  matter,  force,  and  consciousness,  so  that 
through  this  change  undifferentiated  consciousness  shall  "evolve" 
into  self-consciousness.  It  is  only  necessary  that  these  Creative 
Beings  should  act  in  conformity  to  those  few  primal  and  underly- 
ing laws  which  apparently  limit  the  Absolute  itself,  of  which  the 
law  of  cycles,  the  law  of  karma,  and  the  law  of  infinite  Unity 
rendered  manifest  by  infinite  diversity,  or  variation,  are  exam- 
ples. The  "  I"  in  a  man  can  and  does  take  control  of  his  body, 
for  instance,  and  transport  it  wheresoever  it  pleases,  so  long  as 
it  acts  in  accordance  with  the  underlying  and  basic  laws  of 
mechanics  and  gravitation  pertaining  to  this  plane.  Man  can, 
also,  take  matter  and  transform  it  into  any  shape,  or  transport  it 
to  any  place,  if  he  keep  within  the  same  bounds,  or  his  possible 
as  distinguished  from  his  impossible.  In  like  manner,  these 
First  Great  Logoi  can  fashion  worlds  and  even  sentient  beings 
in  any  manner  they  see  fitting,  so  long  as  they,  in  turn,  do  not 
attempt  to  transcend  their  impossible,  or  those  Absolute  limita- 
tions pointed  out  above.  And  this  working  in  harmony  with 
and  under  the  direction  of  this  original  impress  of  the  First 
Logoi  by  intelligent,  sentient,  yet  relatively  lower  beings, 
representing  of  necessity  infinite  degrees  and  grades  of  intel- 
ligence, is  the  true  source  of  that  much-harped-on  "  design" 
which  Christians  assume  as  indubitable  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  their  personal  Jehovah.  Much  of  this  creative  or 
fashioning  intelligence  is  evidently  very  greatly  inferior  to 
that  of  man  in  some  aspects,  though  immensely  transcending 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  55 

his  powers  in  others.  For  instance,  the  intelligence  which 
fashions  the  beautiful  form  and  flowers  of  an  apple-tree  is 
not  sufficient  to  prevent  the  seed  which  chances  to  fall  under 
the  angle  of  a  stone  wall  from  the  hopeless  task  of  attempt- 
ing to  penetrate  this  obstacle;  nor  even  in  the  case  of  man's 
physical  form — which  is  not  created  by  the  same  order  of 
intelligences  that  are  the  source  of  his  intellect — will  it  suffice 
to  stay  the  progress  of  an  intended  evolution  of  a  human 
body,  although  this  has  been  rendered  plainly  impossible  by 
some  intra-uterine  accident  or  influence.  This  is  the  real 
source  of  the  monstrosities  in  nature,  which  puzzle  alike  the 
scientist  and  the  theologian. 

If,  now,  we  symbolize  the  Conscious-Aspect  of  the  Absolute 
by  physical  light,  then  matter  may  be  likened  to  a  prism  which 
decomposes  it  into  many  differing  strata.  Being  thus  decom- 
posed, that  which  during  pralaya  was  Absolute  Unity,  in  man- 
vantara  manifests  differing  rates  of  conscious  vibration,  so  to 
speak,  just  as  the  white  light  of  the  sun  when  passed  through  a 
prism  is  broken  up  into  the  varied  colors  of  the  spectrum,  each 
having  an  entirely  different  rate  of  vibratory  motion  and  wave 
length.  Bearing  in  mind,  then,  that  the  One  Consciousness,  or 
One  Life,  is  limited  in  its  manifestations  by  the  particular  form  of 
matter  in  which  it  is  functioning,  as  the  human  vision  is  dark, 
clear,  or  colored,  according  to  the  physical  media  through  which 
it  attempts  to  look;  and,  further,  that  this  matter  itself  is  the 
result  of  differing  rates  of  vibration  acting  upon  and  in  the 
eternal  Substance-Aspect  of  the  Absolute — we  get  at  least  one 
turn  of  the  key  which  at  the  seventh  revolution  shall  unlock  the 
secrets  of  evolution  and  objective  life.  We  can  perceive  how 
these  original  cosmic  curds,  driven  before  the  descending  vibra- 
tions, the  mechanical  agents  of  evolution,  assume  coarser 
and  more  compact  states  as  they  touch  successively  lower 
vibrations  of  the  Force-Aspect  of  the  Causeless  Cause.  Having 
reached  the  lowest  point  in  that  which  we  ignorantly  term 
"  dead"  or  inorganic  matter,  under  the  stress  of  the  original 
impulse  they  begin  to  ascend  the  evolutionary  arc — to  respond  to 
successively  finer  and  more  delicate  vibrations — thus  affording 
ever  clearer  and  more  perfect  forms,  in  which  higher  centers  -of 
consciousness  can  find  suitable  vehicles.  At  the  beginning  of 
manvantaric  manifestation,  it  is  the  One  Life,  represented  in  self- 


56  A  STUDY  OF   THE  SOUL. 

consciousness  by  the  Logoi,  or  cosmic  centers.  When  the 
impulse  reaches  our  plane  of  matter,  it  is  still  the  One  life,  but 
represented  in  self-consciousness  here  by  the  individualized  cen- 
ters of  human  souls. 

The  state  of  matter  upon  our  little  earth  does  not  imply  that 
all  that  in  the  solar  system — much  less  the  Cosmos — is  in  similar 
conditions.  Therefore,  Consciousness  is  in  as  many  various 
stages  of  expression  as  its  material  vehicle  is  in  stages  of  evolu- 
tion. From  this  it  will  be  seen  how  necessary  is  the  inference 
that  there  are  infinite  grades  of  intelligences  both  above  and 
below  man,  as  the  result  of  the  completed  evolutions  of  other 
worlds,  other  systems,  and  even  other  manvantaras.  A  Logos, 
the  first  "  I,"  which  appears  in  the  Cosmos  at  the  manvantaric 
dawn,  is  an  individualized  center  of  self-consciousness  which  had 
attained  to  this  stage  at  the  close  of  the  last  great  manvantara. 
With  other  Logoi,  it  becomes  a  duty  to  watch  over  and  direct 
the  successive  evolutions  which  occur  during  the  manvantara 
over  which  they  thus  preside.  Below  them  are  the  various 
Hierarchies,  Builders,  Regents,  Cosmoscratores,  at  work  in  the 
myriad  departments  of  manifested  nature. 

The  knowledge  that  one  manvantara  is  the  re-embodiment  of  the 
entire  Universe,  having  its  Karma,  or  causes,  set  up  in  preceding 
manvantaras,  exactly  corresponding  to  the  reincarnation  of  the 
human  soul,  on  its  lower  plane  of  operation,  enables  us  to  under- 
stand much  that  occurs.  The  Logoi  would  correspond  to  man's 
self-conscious,  reincarnating  Ego;  these  lower  Hierarchies, 
Forces,  and  Builders  to  the  universal  "Skandas,"  or  forces  which 
necessarily  pass  into  latency  at  the  striking  of  Universal  Pralaya. 
No  manvantara  can  ever  complete  conscious  evolution ;  and  each 
must  take  up  its  work — just  as  the  human  soul  does — at  the  point 
it  had  attained  when  the  universal  dissolution  of  the  Great  Pra- 
laya compelled  its  cessation.  When  the  "  hour"  strikes  for  this 
Universal  Pralaya,  the  consciousness  ensouled  in  the  lowest  min- 
eral bodies  will  first  of  all  pass  into  a  condition  of  latency,  or  that 
of  bare  subjective  potentiality  of  manifestation  when  fitting  mat- 
ter is  again  projected  at  another  manvantaric  dawn.  This 
enforced  latency  will  be  because  the  matter  or  combination  of 
molecules  it  requires  for  its  outer  manifestation  no  longer  exists  in 
the  Universe,  on  account  of  the  withdrawing  of  the  energy  v/hich 
caused  it  to  appear.  In  like  manner  will  plane  after  plane  of 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SOUL.  57 

consciousness  be  reached,  and  its  entities,  deprived  of  material 
form,  be  compelled  to  sleep  during  the  great  eternity  of  uncon- 
sciousness which  must  precede  another  reawakening  of  the  Cos- 
mos. All  conscious  beings,  whether  of  high  or  low  degree,  will 
thus  be  indrawn  into  the  Absolute;  yet,  while  the  consciousness 
of  lower  forms  remains  only  a  potentiality,  like  that  of  a  sleeping 
or  entranced  man,  to  be  again  awakened  at  the  new  Dawn,  that 
of  the  highest  ones  will,  we  are  told,  pass  self-consciously  into 
this  great  subjective  arc  of  the  cycle  of  Eternal  Duration.  These 
are  They,  the  Logoi,  the  "  luminous  Sons  of  Manvantaric  Dawn," 
who  first  awaken  to  self-conscious  life  upon  the  objective  plane  at 
the  new  manvantaric  projection.  Like  our  Higher  Egos,  which 
represent  the  wisdom  resulting  from  the  sum  of  our  personal 
experiences,  they  represent  the  sum  of  manvantaric  experience, 
and  know  that  which  has  been  and  that  which  is  to  be.  They 
project  the  ideal  plan  of  the  manvantara  that  is  to  be  through 
Their  Divine  Ideation,  just  as  an  architect  creates  in  his  mind 
the  plan  of  the  magnificent  structure,  which  may  not  be  material- 
ized except  by  years  of  slow  and  tedious  labor.  Having  this 
conception  of  what  is  to  be,  They  may  be  said  to  have  fore- 
knowledge of  it;  but  it  is  similar  to  the  foreknowledge  of  the 
architect  of  the  structure  he  proposes  to  erect.  This  ideal  plan, 
first  clothed  with  the  divine  Substance-Aspect  of  the  Absolute, 
stands  as  the  eternal  prototype  of  that  which  is  to  be,  throughout 
its  entire  cycle.  It  is  past,  present,  and  future  combined  in  an 
eternal  Now.  As  it  clothes  and  materializes  itself  by  descend- 
ing to  successively  lower  and  more  material  states,  we  name  the 
slow  process,  the  successive  stages  of  this  unfolding,  Time,  and 
imagine  that  it  marks  real  divisions  of  eternity.  Could  we 
approach  nearer  to  the  heart  of  Being  this  phantasmagoria  of 
fleeting  illusion  would  cease,  and  the  time-harassed  soul  pass  into 
eternal  peace. 

At  each  successive  stage  of  this  unfolding  in  time  of  the  Divine 
Ideation,  the  entities,  overtaken  by  the  last  pralaya,  awaken  from 
their  long  repose.  They  have  no  conception  of  the  unthinkable 
periods  which  have  passed  them  by,  because  they  have  not 
passed  them  by — time  has  not  existed  for  them.  Like  the 
Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus,  their  awakening  finds  them  with  no 
knowledge  of  any  interval.  The  monad  ensouled  in  the  mineral 
atoms  again  reclothes  itself  as  this  form  of  matter  appears  and 


58  A  STUDY   OF  THE  SOUL. 

the  various  Hierarchies,  Cosmocratores,  and  Builders  resume  their 
labors.  The  great  workshop  of  nature,  so  long  stilled,  is  again 
filled  with  its  countless  entities,  each  performing  its  proper  office; 
making  what  progress  it  may,  until  the  striking  of  another  pra- 
laya  calls  to  another  season  of  subjective  being  and  rest.  There 
are  thus  myriads  of  "  Gods,"  or  Creative  Forces,  or  entities,  in 
nature. 

These  different  Orders  of  Creators  or  Builders  must  be  accepted, 
if  evolution  is  to  be  intelligently  comprehended.  It  is  as  though 
the  great  Prism  to  which  we  have  likened  matter  were  capable  of 
being  acted  upon  by  eternal  Force  or  Motion  until  it  gradually 
became  more  and  more  transparent  and  permitted  higher  and 
higher  rates  of  vibrations  of  consciousness  to  pass  through  it. 
Thus,  at  the  stage  of  "dead"  matter  the  prism  is  so  dense  as  only 
to  permit  the  red  rays,  or  vibrations,  so  to  speak,  to  pass. 

Keeping  to  our  simile,  in  these  red  rays  there  can  only  find 
expression  that  form  of  consciousness  which  is  so  different  from 
the  human  that  we  call  its  matter  "  dead."  Yet  the  impulse 
received  at  the  manvantaric  or  creative  dawn  will  not  permit 
matter  to  rest  in  this  or  any  other  condition.  So,  very  gradually, 
and  requiring  ages  of  geologic  time,  "dead"  matter  is  lifted  or 
forced  up,  until,  like  a  mountain  top  at  sunrise,  it  catches  here 
and  there  the  streams  of  the  next  color,  or  the  orange  vibrations; 
and,  a  higher  consciousness  being  now  permitted  to  obtain  a 
foothold,  the  vegetable  kingdom  appears.  Becoming,  under  the 
constant  impact  of  the  eternal  motion,  still  more  translucent,  it 
transmits  now  the  yellow  rays,  and  animal  consciousness  makes 
its  appearance  upon  the  earth.  Becoming  still  more  refined, 
green  rays  are  transmitted,  and  human  consciousness  is  enabled 
to  find  a  fitting  vehicle  and  man  appears  upon  the  scene.  And 
when  matter  has  evolved  to  that  state  in  which  the  remaining 
colors  of  the  spectrum  are  permitted  to  pass,  and  a  corresponding 
consciousness  to  function,  who  can  even  imagine  its  glorious 
potentialities ! 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  INDIVIDUALIZATION  OF  THE  SOUL. 

^CONSIDERING  Consciousness,  then,  as  an  essential  aspect  of  the 
^•^  Causeless  Cause,  we  have  to  postulate  it  as  inhering  poten- 
tially in  every  stratum  or  possible  subdivision  of  the  Sub- 
stance-Aspect of  the  same  Causeless  Cause,  and  as  becoming 
a  potency  only  by  virtue  of  this  association.  In  like  manner, 
matter  may  be  said  to  be  a  potentiality  in  all  spirit  or  conscious- 
ness, and  as  also  becoming  potent  (evolving  form)  only  by  and 
because  of  this  association.  As  neither  can  manifest  finitely 
without  the  aid  of  the  other,  it  is  useless  to  speculate  as  to  their 
relative  superiority.  Because  the  consciousness  which  we  recog- 
nize as  self-consciousness  in  our  thinking,  feeling,  and  willing  Ego 
is  evidently  very  greatly  superior  in  function  to  the  material  form 
or  body  with  which  it  is  associated,  it  does  not  follow  that  on 
their  own  plane  the  matter  and  consciousness  of  the  cells  out  of 
which  this  body  is  constructed  are  in  any  similar  degree  of  rela- 
tive superiority  and  inferiority,  nor  that  the  material  basis  in 
which  our  Ego  has  its  own  proper  habitation  is  in  a  relatively 
inferior  state.  Our  Egos,  as  will  presently  be  shown,  are  now 
using  these  bodies  to  bring  themselves  into  sense  relations  with 
the  material  plane,  similarly  as  a  scientist  uses  the  microscope  to 
open  up  avenues  of  knowledge  otherwise  unattainable.  Matter 
of  some  degree  is  the  great  register  upon  which  the  Conscious- 
Aspect  of  the  Causeless  Cause  records  its  experiences.  Without 
this  association,  continuity  of  conscious  experiences  could  not  be 
assured — unless  we  assume  consciousness  without  any  material 
basis  whatever  to  be  a  possibility  in  nature,  which  position  must 
always  remain  an  assumption,  because  unverifiable,  unthinkable, 
and  analogically  unwarrantable  from  all  phenomena  to  which  we 
have  present  access.  The  immortality  of  that  conscious  center 
we  recognize  as  our  "  I  am  myself"  depends  entirely,  from  its  mate- 
rial aspect,  upon  the  relative  permanency  or  impermanency  of  the 
material  tablets  upon  which  it  records  its  conscious  experiences. 
And  the  "Primordial  Substance"  of  Western  philosophy,  as  well 
as  the  "  mulaprakriti,"  or  "root  of  matter,"  of  the  Eastern 


60  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

Vedantins — the  Substance-Aspect  of  this  study — is  but  the  great 
and  eternal  tablet  upon  which  Infinite  Consciousness  inscribes 
its  finite  experiences. 

If,  then,  at  the  dawn  of  a  new  awakening  to  material  existence, 
we  have  the  re-emerging,  in  obedience  to  the  law  of  cyclic  activ- 
ity, of  consciousness  clothed  in   material  form,  we  may  picture 
such  consciousness  as  a  bare  potency  only.     It  IS,  but  it  can  not 
be  said  to  have  any  other  attributes.     It  has   clothed   itself  with 
appropriate  Substance,  under  another  great  law  of  the  Absolute 
unto  itself — that  of  Cause  and  Effect.     Passing  by,  for  the  pres- 
ent, those  infinite  variations  of  appropriate  form  resulting  from 
the  degrees  of  becoming  attained  by  differing  entities  during  past 
manvantaras,  let  us  take  up  that  which  we  may  term  monadic  or 
(to  us)  undifferentiated  consciousness.     It  represents,  as  nearly  as 
we  can  imagine,  pure,  subjective  potentiality  of  becoming.     Yet 
in    this    first   clothing    of  itself  in   its  counterpart — pure,  unim- 
pressed, virgin  substance — it  has  imposed  upon  itself  a  limitation. 
It  has  acquired  the  widening  of  finite  consciousness  or  experi- 
ence resulting  from  this  association,  and  can  never  again   return 
to  its  former  condition  of  bare  subjectivity.     Let  us  suppose  that 
this  association,  which  for  want  of  a  better  we  may  term  ele- 
mental, continues  for  a  manvantara.     At  that  period,  if  no  sooner, 
the  bond  would  be  dissolved  and  the  consciousness  freed,  to  take 
a  new  clothing  and  attain  a  farther  experience  at  the  next  great 
awakening  of  the  Cosmos.     This   time   it  can  not  re-enter  the 
same  Virgin  Substance  it  did  before,  for  it  has  something  added 
to  it  which  makes  it  greater  than  before  this   addition — it  is  no 
longer  the    pure,  undifferentiated    consciousness    of  the    former 
world  period.     Therefore,  it  must,  under  the  stress  of  that  which 
we  term  natural  evolution,  seek  higher  avenues,  and  this   plainly 
and  simply  because  of  the  mathematical  axiom   that  the  lesser 
can  not  contain  the  greater.     It  seeks,  then,  a  higher  expression, 
and  clothes  itself,  let  us  say,  with  that  which  we  know  as  mineral, 
or  inorganic    matter.     It    remains    another  planetary   or  minor 
manvantara  in   this   form   until  freed   by  another  planetary  or 
minor  pralaya. 

Under  the  same  law  it  can  not  at  a  new  world-birth  reclothe 
itself  in  mineral  matter;  it  must  seek  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
Thence  it  must  pass  to  the  animal,  and  from  thence  be  pushed  to 
the  human ;  and  all  this  under  the  necessity  of  natural  law  gov- 


THE   INDIVIDUALIZATION   OF  THE   SOUL.  6j 

erning  evolution  of  form,  this  "natural  law"  being  the  primal 
impress  upon  it  by  the  Logoi  at  the  great  manvantaric  dawn. 

This  is  a  general  view  of  the  progress  from  its  purely  material 
aspect.  It  of  necessity  only  pictures  half  the  reality,  as  all  one- 
sided views  must.  There  is  also  a  conscious  aspect,  which  must 
not  be  left  out  of  consideration.  Retracing  our  steps  to  pick  this 
up,  let  us  pause  to  reflect  upon  what  must  take  place  when  bare, 
subjective  consciousness  has  been  released  from  its  first  asso- 
ciation with  a  material  vestment.  We  have  seen,  under  the  law 
that  the  lesser  can  not  contain  the  greater,  that  it  can  not  reclothe 
itself  with  the  same  undifferentiated  matter.  Where,  then, 
will  it  find  material  for  its  next  and  higher  expression  ?  Evi- 
dently, it  can  only  do  this  by  creating  for  itself  vestments  out  of 
matter  already  the  seat  of  consciousness  in  its  own  former  and 
lower  expression.  So,  if  this  lower  expression  be  pictured  in 
some  inconceivable  way  as  transcendentally  atomic — using  this 
term  "  atomic"  in  its  ordinary  scientific  acceptation, — then  it 
must  synthesize  and  collect  these  transcendental  atoms  into,  let 
us  suppose,  transcendental  molecules,  and  of  these  build  its  higher 
habitation.  By  so  doing  it  not  only  does  not  interfere  with  the 
evolution  of  form  and  the  becoming  in  consciousness  going  on  in 
these  primitive  atoms,  but  actually  aids  and  hastens  this  process 
through  its  own  presence,  and  consequent  imparting,  to  a  degree 
at  least,  its  own  essence  to  this  atomic  consciousness  with  which 
it  is  thus,  as  it  were,  molecularly  associated.  This  lifting  up  of 
lower  consciousness  by  the  presence  and  surrounding  of  higher  is 
the  spiritual  aspect  of  the  great  evolutionary  process,  and  one 
which  the  scientist  resolutely  refuses  to  recognize,  although  obey- 
ing its  commands  in  his  association  with,  and  impress  imparted 
to,  the  cells  of  his  body  every  moment  of  his  life.  It  has  been 
called  the  Divine  Law  of  Compassion,  and  an  attribute  of  the 
very  Absolute  itself.  Thus  it  is  that  the  higher  must  help  the 
lower;  unconsciously  in  the  lower  kingdoms,  consciously  in  the 
higher  or — try  to  oppose  the  highest  law  in  nature,  and  perish! 
In  this  fact  lies  the  oft-repeated  assertion  of  Theosophists  that 
altruism  is  the  law,  and  the  only  means  of  progress,  upon  the 
higher  human  plane,  at  least.  For  man  has  become  a  self- 
conscious  factor  in  that  great  scheme  of  evolution  which  has  for 
its  basis  Divine  compassion. 

Recognizing,  then,  the  dual  aspect  of  that  which  we  term  evo- 


62  A   STUDY    OF    THE   SOUL. 

lution,  but  which  is  only  an  evolution  of  form  and  a  becoming  in 
consciousness,  let  us  once  more  retrace  our  steps  somewhat  in 
our  study  of  the  becoming  of  the  human  soul.  Yet  in  all  this  we 
must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  "every  entity  in  the  Universe 
either  is,  was,  or  prepares  to  become,  a  man."*  We  must  not 
view  man  for  one  instant  as  apart  from  nature  as  a  whole,  or  as 
not  subject  to  her  every  law  in  common  with  all  other  entities, 
whether  of  high  or  low  degree.  We  have  seen,  in  a  general  way, 
how  the  process  of  evolution,  which  has  been  well  termed  the 
Cycle  of  Necessity,  forces  entities  into  progressively  higher  forms 
of  matter;  that,  in  fact,  every  descent  or  involution  of  spirit,  or 
consciousness,  in  matter  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  an  evolution  of 
material  form.  For  the  new  descent  compels  the  building  ol 
higher  forms  to  contain,  or  to  allow  expression  for,  the  entities 
crowded  out — if  the  term  be  allowable — of  their  old  habitations 
by  the  incoming  guests.  We  have  seen,  also,  that  consciousness 
is  at  first  monadic — using  this  term  in  its  true  sense  of  One-ness, 
and  which  is  quite  different  from  that  in  which  we  speak  of  the 
human  Monad, — and  is  only  very  gradually  impressed  with  the 
stamp  of  any  individual  experience.  It  might  be  likened  to  the 
crude  gold  nuggets,  which  are  simply  gold  at  first,  and  indistin- 
guishable from  other  nuggets  until  they  become  coins  of  different 
values  under  the  various  individualizing  processes  and  stamps 
received  in  the  mint.  If,  now,  we  remember  that  this  which  we 
have  termed  a  Great  Manvantara,  or  objective  arc  of  the  Uni- 
verse, is  interrupted  by  an  almost  infinite  number  of  minor  pra- 
layas,  or  subjective  cycles  of  rest,  of  equally  infinite  degrees  of 
incompleteness,  we  shall  at  length  be  in  a  position  to  appreciate 
evolution  as  we  perceive  its  action  in  nature  about  us.  For  under 
the  general  view,  with  which  this  chapter  was  prefaced,  it  would 
seem  to  have  been  inferred  that  only  Great  Pralayas,  or  times  of 
Universal  Rest,  allowed  of  the  liberation  of  consciousness  and  its 
consequent  progression  in  future  manvantaras.  This  is  by  no 
means  the  case.  These  pralayas  extend  from  the  unthinkable 
periods  contemplated  by  the  Brahmanical  classification,  and  rep- 
resented arithmetically  by  fifteen  places  of  figures,  to  periods  of 
perhaps  less  than  a  second,  as  in  the  case  of  deaths  and  renewals 
of  the  molecules  composing  the  cells  of  our  bodies.  The  death  of 
a  human  body  is  only  a  pralaya  or  rest  for  the  soul,  affording 

•Secret  Doctrine. 


THE   INDIVIDUALIZATION   OF  THE   SOUL.  63 

another  opportunity,  after  the  rest  is  over,  for  further  conscious 
experiences.  The  death  of  a  planet  is  its  pralaya;  and  so  on  for 
a  cell,  a  sun,  or  any  entity  whatever.  These  minor  pralayas  by 
no  means  restore  consciousness  to  its  absolute  condition,  as  the 
Great  Pralayas  do,  but  only  to  relative  and  infinitely  varying 
states  of  freedom  from  material  form.  Thus,  sleep  is  a  pralaya 
which  temporarily  frees  man's  higher  Principles,  while  death  is 
similar,  but  of  much  higher  degree.  After  the  first,  consciousness 
must  return  to  the  same  body;  after  the  second,  it  clothes  itself 
with  an  entirely  new  one.  Minor  and  incomplete  pralayas,  such 
as  sleep,  are  often  spoken  of  as  Obscurations. 

Returning  from  this  necessary  digression:  The  consciousness 
expressed  in  mineral  form,  upon  its  dissociation  from  any  cause 
from  this,  could  easily  re-enter  any,  or  almost  any,  portion  of  the 
entire  mineral  kingdom.  So  the  lowly  forms  of  vegetable  or  ani- 
mal life,  respectively,  might  easily  be  capable  of  a  wide  range  of 
choice  among  other  lowly  forms  of  their  kingdoms.  But  how 
about  that  consciousness  expressed  in  the  elephant,  the  tiger,  or 
the  stately  tree  ?  Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  a  magnificent  oak, 
for  example,  upon  the  destruction  of  its  cellular  clothing,  re- 
entering  a  fungus  or  a  daisy?  or  of  the  carnivorous,  cruel  tiger  re- 
appearing as  a  dove  ?  These  would  be  but  senseless  attempts  to 
make  the  lesser  contain  the  greater — to  pour  the  ocean  into  the 
thimble. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  each  conscious  experience  added  makes 
it  more  and  more  difficult,  as  the  ages  go  by,  for  a  reincarnating 
entity  to  even  re-enter  its  own  class;  and  that  thus,  in  its  minor 
degree,  it  will  travel  its  own  cycle  of  necessity,  first  as  an  element, 
then  as  a  mineral,  then  as  a  plant,  an  animal,  a  man,  and — a  god! 
It  is  also  comprehensible,  if  but  dimly,  how  the  beginnings  of 
individuality  are  thus  faintly  impressed  upon  potential  centers  of 
consciousness  in  kingdoms  far  below  the  human,  or  even  the  ani- 
mal. How  these  potential  centers  themselves  originate  is  not  a 
subject  for  finite  inquiry ;  it  is  a  mystery  pertaining  to  the  Great 
Unknowable  Causelesss  Cause.  We  only  know  that  they  do  orig- 
inate ;  and,  as  stated,  may,  without  transcending  finite  limits,  dimly 
conceive  of  their  after  processes.  It  is  within  our  power,  also,  to 
imagine,  and  even  to  trace,  a  pathway  by  following  which  we 
can  perceive  that,  after  unthinkable  periods  of  conscious  experi- 
ences in  lower  forms, there  would  at  last  come  a  time  when  aeon- 


64  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

scious  center  forced  into  a  higher  kingdom  would  recognize  that 
this  state  was  unlike  former  ones — and,  lo!  the  mystery  of  self- 
consciousness  is  achieved,  and  a  human  soul  has  become!  For 
self-consciousness  is  but  the  recognition  that  our  consciousness  is 
different  from  that  of  entities  around  us — in  the  differentiation  of 
Ego  from  Non-Ego.  This  once  recognized,  all  our  magnificent 
introspective  or  subjective  mental  processes  become  only  a  ques- 
tion of  widening  phenomenal  experience. 

Yet  the  view  of  man's  becoming  will  still  be  one-sided  if  we 
lose  sight  of  the  spiritual  aspect  of  evolution,  already  referred  to. 
Every  advanced  entity  in  the  Universe,  as  we  have  seen,  is  forced 
during  the  Cycle  of  Necessity,  by  this  grand  law  of  involution, 
plus  evolution,  to  clothe  itself  with  entities  occupying  lower  forms 
of  matter.  It  thus  secures  its  own  continued  conscious  experi- 
ences, and  mercifully  assists  those  with  which  it  is  thus  associated 
to  rise  in  the  scale  of  being.  This  is  the  true  mystery  of  man's 
relation  to  the  bodies  in  which  he  is  incarnated.  He  is  using 
lower  forms  of  life  to  enable  him  to  obtain  conscious  experiences 
on  the  material  plane.  Until  this  simple  explanation  is  recog- 
nized by  Western  nations  they  will  continue  to  grope  between 
the  Scylla  of  materialistic  negation  and  Charybdis  of  dogmatic 
superstition. 

Once  this  spiritual  aspect  of  evolution  is  recognized,  however, 
much  of  the  mystery  of  man's  dual  nature,  of  those  two  souls 
which  Goethe  declares  strive  in  every  human  breast,  becomes 
intelligible.  The  entities — our  Higher  Egos — thus  occupying 
the  highly  complex  molecular  associations  composing  our  bodies, 
light  up,  by  their  presence  in  this  form,  a  reflection  of  the  pure 
flame  constituting  their  own  higher  essence.  Having  thus  ration- 
alized that  which  was  before  but  physical  senses  common  to  all 
animals  as  well  as  animal  man,  they — or  we — can  now  relate 
themselves  to  sensuous  phenomena  through  this  reflection  thus 
imparted  by  their  presence.  But,  alas,  in  rationalizing  they  have 
not  destroyed  the  desires  and  passions  of  purely  animal,  sensuous 
existence.  On  the  contrary,  these  are  strengthened  a  thousand- 
fold by  being  thus  illumined  by  reason.  There  has  been  added  to 
the  sensuous  delight  that  of  anticipation  as  well  as  remembrance. 
The  reasoning,  remembering  animal  now  runs  riot  in  its  mad 
chase  after  sensuous  delights.  And  to  control  this  fatally  beauti- 
ful animal,  to  spiritualize  senses  thus  rationalized,  is  the  hard  task 


THE  INDIVIDUALIZATION   OF   THE   SOUL.  65 

set  before  every  human  soul.  This  is  the  conflict — the  two  souls 
within  our  breast  fighting  for  mastery — which  has  been  the  theme 
of  many  an  inspired  poem,  from  the  Bhagavad  Gita  down  to  the 
humble  Salvation  Army  enthusiast  who  sings,  "  My  Soul,  be  on 
thy  guard!"  Yet  this  very  conflict  strengthens,  even  as  the  fierce 
winds  only  cause  the  oak  to  strike  more  deeply  its  roots  into  the 
earth.  It  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  great  scheme  of  evolution — 
a  rugged,  dangerous  portion  of  that*  way  which  "leads  up  hill  to 
the  very  end," 


CHAPTER  V. 

REINCARNATION  —  PHILOSOPHIC     AND     LOGICAL 

EVIDENCE. 

'HE  preceding  chapters  having,  it  is  believed,  established  the 
fact  that  man  has  a  center  .of  consciousness,  or  soul,  quite 
independent  of  the  body  for  its  existence,  or  conscious  functions — 
except  as  the  sense  organs  of  the  latter  relate  it  to  the  molecular 
portion  of  the  Cosmos, — those  remaining  will  be  devoted  to  a 
study  of  the  nature  of  the  relations  sustained  by  this  soul  to  the 
body.  Standing  first  and  foremost  among  these  is  the  fact  of  its 
reincarnation,  or  its  successive  occupation  of  many  bodies  during 
its  evolution  through  matter. 

Reincarnation  is  quite  distinct  from  metempsychosis,  when  this 
is  understood  to  mean  the  return  of  the  soul  to  earth  through 
human  or  animal  bodies  indifferently;  for  it  emphatically  denies 
that,  having  once  attained  the  human  state,  the  soul  can  ever  ret- 
rograde into  an  animal  condition.  A  human  soul  has  developed, 
as  we  have  seen  in  the  study  of  its  evolution,  certain  qualities  and 
potencies  which  are  as  incapable  of  functioning  in  an  animal  body 
as  the  tissues  of  a  giant  oak  are  incapable  of  being  mechanically 
recompressed  within  the  limits  of  the  original  acorn  out  of  which 
it  grew. 

A  correct  conception  of  Reincarnation  recognizes  that  the  body, 
as  such,  has  no  part  in  the  soul's  return  to  earth;  that  the  connec- 
tion of  the  body  with  the  soul  is,  primarily,  to  furnish  sense  organs 
to  relate  the  latter  to  a  state  so  far  beneath  its  own  spiritual  nature 
as  to  be  reached  only  by  this  means;  and,  secondarily,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  which  the  body,  or  bundle  of  sense  organs,  is  constructed 
reside  certain  "  qualities"  the  nature  of  which  it  is  essential  to  the 
intellectual  progress  of  the  soul  that  it  learn.  For  it  is  only  by 
experiencing  its  "opposite"  that  true  knowledge  of  any  "quality" 
in  nature,  whether  physical,  mental,  or  spiritual,  can  be  obtained. 
Matter  upon  the  fourth  plane  of  any  world  is  said  to  be  "kamic," 
or  full  of  "  rajas?  or  desire.  Hence,  anger,  passion,  malice,  envy, 
ambition,  and  a  host  of  similar  "  qualities"  of  matter,  are  brought 


PHILOSOPHIC   AND    LOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  67 

directly  to  the  cognizance  of  the  soul  by  means  of  its  incarnating 
in  a  body  full  of  them.  Out  of  the  experience  of  these,  so  under- 
gone, it  acquires  a  knowledge  of  the  true  nature  of  their  opposites; 
and  evolves  a  wisdom  it  could  never  gather  but  for  this  associa- 
tion with  a  body.  This  will  be  more  fully  explained  in  the  chap- 
ter upon  the  Reincarnating  Ego. 

To  Western  minds,  Reincarnation  is  both  unfamiliar  and  dis- 
tasteful. The  unfamiliarity  is  due,  perhaps,  to  the  materialistic 
tendencies  of  its  great  thinkers,  especially  in  the  domain  of  sci- 
ence. Most  scientists  have  been,  and  are,  unwilling  to  admit  the 
existence  of  a  soul  in  man,  to  say  nothing  of  its  reincarnating. 

That  the  idea  should  be  distasteful  to  the  unphilosophic  mind, 
especially  if  trained  to  base  all  concepts,  whether  human  or  divine, 
upon  personality  and  separateness,  is  not  surprising.  The  super- 
structure of  modern  civilization  is  erected  upon  a  foundation  of 
individualism,  and  this  in  its  lowest  and  most  material  sense.  To 
succeed  in  life  is  its  one  object,  and  by  success  is  understood  the 
acquirement  of  wealth  or  fame.  The  view  which  involves  a  suc- 
cession of  lives  in  its  perspective  is  necessarily  lost  sight  of  with 
horizons  rigidly  defined  by  matter.  "  When  we  are  dead  it  is  for 
a  long  time,"  a  remark  by  a  French  cynic,  fairly  presents  the  con- 
ception of  life  from  the  modern  materialistic  and  utilitarian  stand- 
point. That  he  who  does  not  make  the  most  of  it  is  missing 
opportunities  which  will  never  again  offer,  is  generally  accepted. 
From  this  it  necessarily  follows  that  strong  personalities  should 
evolve  as  the  soul  returns,  life  after  life,  with  its  longing  for  riches, 
fame,  or  power  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  successive  par- 
tial realizations.  Therefore,  when  Western  people  are  told  that 
death  ends  the  career  of  Mr.  Smith,  who  has  amassed  millions,  or 
of  Mr.  Brown,  who  has  become  a  great  general,  and  that  all  that 
really  survives  in  any  life  are  certain  higher,  spiritual  thoughts 
and  aspirations  which  have  become  foreign  to  the  very  motive  of 
our  Western  civilization,  they  are  naturally  repulsed.  The  Chris- 
tian heaven,  with  its  guarantee  of  the  eternal  persistence  of  the 
entire  Mr.  Smith,  minus  his  body  but  plus  a  pair  of  wings,  seems 
much  more  desirable. 

But  that  Reincarnation  should  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  phil- 
osophic mind  is  unaccountable.  For  materialistic  philosophy 
deliberately  parts  with  life  at  the  death  of  the  body ;  and  in  view 
of  the  utter  blank  beyond  the  grave — the  terrible,  awful  concep- 


68  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

tion  of  ceasing  to  be — it  would  seem  reasonable  that  it  should 
seize  eagerly  upon  any  tenable  hypothesis  which  promises  an 
extension  of  being.  Yet,  of  all  classes,  materialists  are  the  most 
eager  to  prove  that  when  the  curtain  falls  at  death  the  play  is 
over,  except  to  new  audiences. 

The  proofs  of  the  Reincarnation  of  the  soul  follow,  logically,  as 
a  corollary  to  the  evidence  of  its  existence  as  an  entity  independ- 
ent of  the  body;  for  a  soul  shown  to  possess  powers  superior  to 
its  tenement  must  have  brought  such  faculties  and  powers  with  it, 
and  will  necessarily  take  them  when  it  departs.  The  only  remain- 
ing evidence  required,  then,  is  to  connect  the  source  of  this  supe- 
riority with  Reincarnation  in  successive  bodies,  such  as,  or  similar 
to,  those  we  now  possess.  This  evidence  may  be  conveniently 
studied  under  its  logical,  or  philosophical,  and  scientific  aspects. 

Taking  up,  primarily,  then,  the  logical  and  philosophic  portion 
of  our  inquiry,  it  may  be  said  that  there  are  three  hypotheses 
concerning  the  origin  and  destiny  of  the  soul,  under  which  almost 
every  possible  form  of  belief  may  be  classified.  The  first,  and 
that  which  is  held  by  a  very  large  majority  of  the  human  race,  is 
Reincarnation,  or  the  repeated  descent  of  the  soul  into  material 
bodies.  The  second  is  the  one-birth  theory,  which  supposes  the 
creation  of  a  new  soul  at  each  birth,  and  having  its  chief  repre- 
sentative in  modern — not  ancient — Christianity.  It  also  includes 
most  of  the  believers  in  Spiritualism.  The  third  looks  upon  the 
soul  as  the  product  of  the  molecular  and  chemical  activities  going 
on  within  the  body,  and  holds  that  the  cessation  of  these  activi- 
ties necessitates  its  destruction.  This  is  the  theory  of  modern 
materialism.  Now,  if  we  apply  the  crucial  test  of  an  hypothesis 
— that  of  accounting  for  all  the  phenomena  included  within  its 
own  proper  territory — we  shall  be  at  once  in  a  position  to  judge 
of  the  truth  or  falsity  of  each  of  these  three  concerning  the  soul. 

First,  then,  as  to  the  object  of  life.  Except  we  deny  any  aim 
at  all  in  Nature's  processes  which  have  led  up  to  man,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  in  man  the  one  paramount  object  is  to  gain  knowledge 
and  wisdom  through  experience.  Even  one  short  life  forces  us 
to  this  conclusion.  Materialism  does  not  deny  this,  but  claims 
that  this  increment  of  wisdom  is  transmitted  to  the  race,  and  that 
the  individual  has  no  future  share  in  it.  If  experience  and  wis- 
dom resulting  therefrom  be  the  object,  then  one  life  is  simply 
absurd.  Did  all  attain  old  age,  the  case  would  be  bad  enough,  but 


PHILOSOPHIC   AND   LOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  69 

when  we  consider  the  vast  number  who  die  with  no  experience 
whatever,  the  inadequacy  of  one  life  to  accomplish  this  purpose 
becomes  apparent  to  the  dullest  intellect. 

As  has  been  well  shown  by  a  recent  writer:* 

"  The  usual  belief  is  that  we  are  here  but  once,  and  once  for  all  determine  our 
future.  And  yet  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  one  life,  even  if  prolonged,  is  no 
more  adequate  to  gain  knowledge,  acquire  experience,  solidify  principle,  and 
form  character,  than  would  one  day  in  infancy  be  adequate  to  fit  for  the  duties 
of  mature  manhood.  Any  man  can  make  this  even  clearer  by  estimating,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  probable  future  which  Nature  contemplates  for  humanity, 
and,  on  the  other,  his  present  preparation  for  it.  That  future  includes  evi- 
dently two  things — an  elevation  of  the  individual  to  god-like  excellence,  and 
his  gradual  apprehension  of  the  Universe  of  Truth.  His  present  preparation, 
therefore,  consists  of  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  a  very  small  department 
of  one  form  of  existence,  and  that  mainly  gained  through  the  partial  use  of 
misleading  senses;  of  a  suspicion,  rather  than  a  belief,  that  the  sphere  of 
supersensuous  truth  may  exceed  the  sensuous  as  the  universe  does  this  earth; 
of  a  partially  developed  set  of  moral  and  spiritual  faculties,  none  acute  and 
none  unhampered,  but  all  dwarfed  by  non-use,  poisoned  by  prejudice,  and 
perverted  by  ignorance;  the  whole  nature,  moreover,  being  limited  in  its 
interests  and  affected  in  its  endeavors  by  the  ever-present  needs  of  a  physical 
body  which,  much  more  than  the  soul,  is  felt  to  be  the  real  'I.'  Is  such  a 
being,  narrow,  biased,  carnal,  sickly,  fitted  to  enter  at  death  on  a  limitless 
career  of  spiritual  acquisition? 

"Now,  there  are  only  three  ways  in  which  this  obvious  unfitness  may  be 
overcome, — a  transforming  power  in  death,  a  post-mortem  and  wholly  spirit- 
ual discipline,  a  series  of  Reincarnations.  There  is  nothing  in  the  mere  sep- 
aration of  soul  from  body  to  confer  wisdom,  ennoble  character,  or  cancel  dis- 
positions acquired  through  fleshliness.  If  any  such  power  resided  in  death, 
all  souls,  upon  being  disembodied,  would  be  precisely  alike, — a  palpable 
absurdity.  Nor  could  a  post-mortem  discipline  meet  the  requirement,  and 
this  for  the  following  reasons:  (a)  the  soul's  knowledge  of  human  life  would 
always  remain  insignificant;  (b)  of  the  various  faculties  only  to  be  developed 
during  incarnation,  some  would  still  be  dormant  at  death,  and  therefore  never 
evolve;  (c)  the  unsatisfying  nature  of  material  life  would  not  have  been  fully 
demonstrated;  (d)  there  would  have  been  no  deliberate  conquest  of  the  flesh 
by  the  spirit;  (e)  the  meaning  of  Universal  Brotherhood  would  have  been  very 
imperfectly  seen;  (/)  desire  for  a  career  on  earth  under  different  Conditions 

•The  Necessity  for  Reincarnation.     Leaflet. 


7O  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

would  persistently  check  the  disciplinary  process;  (g)  exact  justice  could 
hardly  be  secured;  (ft)  the  discipline  itself  would  be  insufficiently  varied  and 
copious;  (/)  there  would  be  no  advance  in  the  successive  races  on  earth. 

"There  remains,  then,  the  last  alternative,  a  series  of  Reincarnations,  or, 
in  other  words,  that  the  enduring  principle  of  the  man,  endowed  during  each 
interval  between  two  earth-lives  with  the  results  achieved  in  the  former  of 
them,  shall  return  for  further  experience  and  effort." 

The  author  then  proceeds  to  show  how  all  of  the  objections  are 
met  and  fully  satisfied  through  Reincarnation;  thus: 

"Only  through  Reincarnation  can  knowledge  of  human  life  be  made 
exhaustive,  or  opportunity  afforded  for  the  development  of  all  those  faculties 
which  can  only  be  developed  during  incarnation.  Only  through  reincarna- 
tion is  the  unsatisfying  nature  of  material  life  fully  demonstrated;  the  sub- 
ordination of  the  lower  to  the  higher  nature  made  possible;  the  meaning  of 
Universal  Brotherhood  become  apparent;  the  desire  for  other  forms  of 
earthly  experience  be  extinguished  by  undergoing  them;  exact  justice  meted 
to  every  man;  variety  and  copiousness  to  the  discipline  we  all  require,  be 
secured;  and  a  continuous  advance  in  the  successive  races  of  men  ensured." 

(justice,  especially,  is  most  completely  set  aside  by  any  other 
theory.  According  to  Christian  dogmas,  a  child  who  dies  at  birth 
is  surely  "  saved."  It  has  had  none  of  the  experience  and  temp- 
tations of  its  fellow-mortals,  yet  its  future  happiness  is  eternally 
assured  because  of  the  accidental  cutting  short  of  its  earthly  career. 
A  Christian  who  really  believes  this  ought  to  pray  for  death  for 
his  children,  and  return  devout  thanks  when  the  grave  closes  over 
their  little  forms.  For  what  are  the  pleasures  of  one  brief  life 
compared  with  the  eternal  happiness  which,  according  to  their 
belief,  awaits  the  child  just  beyond  the  grave,  and  which  it  runs 
the  hazard  of  losing  if  its  existence  is  prolonged  sufficiently  for  it 
to  encounter  the  many  temptations  which  must  await  it  in  the 
event  of  its  surviving?  jNor  is  the  Spiritist  happier  in  his  efforts 
to  explain  away  the  inconsistencies  of  one  life.  He  claims  fhat 
experience  may  be  acquired  by  proxy  in  a  spiritual  realm.  This 
postulates  the  absurdity  of  attaining  material  knowledge  under 
spiritual  environments.  But  were  this  possible,  it  still  banishes 
both  method  and  reason  from  the  scheme  of  evolution,  for  there 
is  either  no  necessity  for  the  spirit  to  incarnate  at  all,  or  else  the 
coming  to  earth  for  a  few  moments,  as  in  the  case  of  babes  who  die 
at  birth,  cannot  fulfill  the  requirements.  And  this  without  speak- 
ing of  the  injustice  of  compelling  one  soul  to  undergo  the  pains  of 


PHILOSOPHIC    AND    LOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  71 

mortal  experience  in  order  that  it  may  teach  another  to  whom 
accident  or  disease  denied  opportunity.  Either  this  world  is  one 
of  chance,  "  where  Chaos  umpire  sits,  and  by  decision  adds  but  to 
the  confusion,"  or  else  all  one-birth  theories  must  be  set  aside,  as 
not  accounting  for  even  a  small  portion  of  the  observed  facts. 

The  same  fatal  defects  apply  to  the  materialistic  theory  of  the 
non-existence  of  a  soul  independently  of  the  body.  For  admit- 
ting that  experience  and  wisdom  might  be  transmitted  to  the  race 
as  its  heritage,  yet  the  race  itself  must  eventually  perish,  and  with 
it  all  the  fruits  of  the  sufferings  of  its  units.  Materialism  merely 
removes  the  difficulty  one  step,  and  leaves  life  none  the  less  a 
farce  because  this  now  assumes  colossal  proportions.  It  is  quite 
as  unjust  for  the  race  to  die,  even  after  millions  of  years,  as  it  is 
for  the  individual  to  do  so  after  one  life.  Both  results  argue  the 
non-existence  of  any  design  in  nature,  and  relegate  the  whole 
problem  of  human  life  to  either  pure  chance,  or  else  the  barbar- 
ous whim  of  some  Jehovah,  who  creates  and  destroys  men  and 
worlds  as  the  humor  suits  him.  No  sane  man  can  deny  the  evi- 
dence of  intelligent  design  in  nature.  His  imperfect  physical 
senses  make  this  plain,  and  the  most  powerful  microscope  or  tel- 
escope only  adds  to  the  evidence  already  at  hand.  The  more 
deeply  one  searches  the  more  abundant  the  proofs  become.  This 
is  admittedly  the  law  of  the  physical  plane.  Having  reached  the 
mental  or  spiritual  plane,  does  nature  now  suddenly  fly1  in  the 
face  of  her  former  methods  and  hand  the  guiding  reins  over  to 
blind  fate  or  blinder  chance? 

Materialism  is  particularly  unhappy,  also,  in  applying  its  nega- 
tive hypothesis  to  its  own  grandest  and  most  sweeping  generaliza- 
tions. It  proudly  announces  that  ex  nihilo  nihil  fit,  and  then 
assumes  an  intelligent,  reasoning  soul  as  starting  into  existence 
"out  of  nothing,"  and  departing  into  the  same  unreasonable  and' 
impossible  limbo  when  certain  processes  pertaining  to  the  bodily 
form  cease  to  be  active.  The  indestructibility  of  matter,  the  cor- 
relation of  force,  the  conservation  of  energy,  the  law  of  evolution — 
all  are  in  hopeless  irreconcilability  with  the  materialistic  theory, 
as  they  also  are  to  the  one-birth  hypothesis.  Matter,  force,  and 
intelligence  are,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  but  three  aspects  of  the 
One  Reality,  the  CAUSELESS  CAUSE,  and  their  separation 
under  any  condition  is  absolutely  unthinkable.  If  matter  is  inde- 
structible, then  the  material  base  of  the  soul  is  indestructible;  if 


72  A  STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

force  is  always  conserved,  then  this  includes  psychic  or  soul  force; 
if  energy  is  eternal  in  its  action,  then  intellectual  energy  cannot 
be  excluded;  if  evolution  be  a  fact  in  nature,  then  it  includes  the 
larger  fact  that  its  processes  are  necessarily  infinite  in  duration. 

But  materialism  fancies  it  sees  a  loophole  for  avoiding  these 
conclusions  in  the  fact  that  matter,  force,  and  energy  reappear  as 
things  apparently  differing  from  their  former  modes  of  manifesta- 
tion. Granted;  but  these  apparent  differences  are  only  the  masks 
which  the  one  actor  assumes  upon  taking  differing  parts.  It  is 
the  same  actor,  whose  real  identity  is  always  one  throughout  the 
entire  performance.  It  is  not  claimed  by  Theosophists  that  the 
soul  functions  in  the  same  manner  when  using  the  sense  organs 
of  the  body  as  it  does  when  this  limitation  is  no  longer  interposed. 
But  it  is  always  the  soul,  and  nothing  else,  although  its  phenom- 
ena are  necessarily  modified  by  the  form  of  matter  with  which  it 
is  temporarily  associated.  Heat  and  light  are  none  the  less  one 
because  differing  conditions  cause  them  to  display  differing  modes 
of  motion ;  and  no  mode  of  motion  which  links  the  material  aspect 
of  nature  to  the  spiritual  has  ever  been  traced  to  a  transmutation 
into  any  form  of  intelligence.  The  two  are  opposite  facets  of  the 
ONE,  and  can  never  interchange  on  the  plane  of  manifestation. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  soul  must  persist  as  intelligence ;  its 
force  can  only  be  conserved  by  that  which  is  essentially  itself  in 
properties.  Scientists  claim  that  atoms  of  matter  can  never  escape 
from  the  laws  of  affinity;  that  atoms  of  iron,  for  instance,  will  ever 
be  attracted  to  iron  atoms,  and  that  no  power  can  destroy  that 
particular  property  which  constitutes  the  atom  iron,  instead  of,  for 
example,  gold,  although  it  may  be  so  buried  among  other  atoms 
as  to  be  entirely  indistinguishable  by  our  coarse  physical  senses. 
So  intelligence  must  follow  the  same  law,  by  all  the  evidence  of 
analogy.  The  soul  represents,  in  its  "  I  am  I"  manifestation,  an 
ultimate  division  (if  we  may  be  allowed  the  term)  of  intelligence, 
and  must  retain  its  "  I  am  I"  qualities  under  whatever  associations 
it  may  find  itself;  just  as  truly,  as  reasonably,  and  as  certainly  as 
that  the  ultimate  material  atom  whose  properties  constitute  it  iron 
can  never  be  destroyed  nor  changed  into  something  which  is  not 
iron.  If  the  one  is  law  on  the  material,  the  other  is  equally  law  on 
the  psychic  plane.  The  physical  atom  represents  the  unit  of 
matter;  the  "I  am  I"  represents  the  unit  of  consciousness.  From 
both,  the  idea  of  magnitude  or  extension  in  space  is  excluded. 


PHILOSOPHIC   AND   LOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  73 

Certainly,  the  "  I  am  I"  can  not  be  conceived  as  limited  by  the  size 
or  any  other  physical  qualities  of  any  body  with  which  it  is  associ- 
ated. It  is,  as  we  have  said,  the  unit  of  Consciousness — the  true 
basis  of  all  manifestations  of  intelligence  in  nature,  as  the  atom  is 
the  unit  of  matter,  and  the  physical  basis  of  all  material  forms. 

So  with  materialistic  concepts  of  evolution.  As  we  have 
pointed  out,  there  is  just  as  great  a  defect  in  logic,  and  as  fatal  a 
disagreement  between  the  hypothesis  and  the  fact  that  design 
pervades  every  department  of  nature,  in  annihilating  a  race,  as 
there  is  in  predicating  the  annihilation  of  the  individual  soul.  If 
uncounted  millions  of  individuals  are  to  be  sacrificed  to  perfect  a 
glorious  race,  only  for  this,  too,  to  be  ultimately  annihilated,  then 
the  evil  and  unreason  of  creation  are  only  magnified,  not  removed. 

But  once  admit  the  fact  of  reincarnation,  and  observe  how  the 
apparent  chaos  of  injustice  changes  into  the  most  beautiful  har- 
mony. Apparently  discordant  and  irreconcilable  phenomena  are 
marshaled  into  orderly  array;  confusion  and  injustice  disappear, 
and  life  assumes  a  deeper  and  more  significant  meaning.  The 
terrible  inequalities  of  birth,  utterly  inexplicable  by  the  single- 
birth,  and  still  more  so  by  the  materialistic,  hypothesis,  are  shown 
to  be  the  result  of  causes  set  in  operation  by  the  soul  itself  in 
former  incarnations,  and  not  the  careless  or  stupid  incapacity  of 
some  personal  god  playing  at  creation,  and  making  a  sad  mess  of 
it.  The  wretch  born  of  drunken  and  vicious  parents,  amid  such 
surroundings  as  make  virtue  practically  a  miracle,  foredoomed  to  a 
life  of  want  and  woe,  has  created  such  attractions  in  former  lives 
as  render  it  impossible  for  him  to  be  born  under  any  other  con- 
ditions. No  cruel  fate  nor  blind  chance  has  been  the  slightest 
factor  in  bringing  about  the  result.  Just  as  surely  as  the  magnet 
turns  to  the  north,  so  surely  will  the  helpless  soul  be  drawn  to 
those  parents  having  the  greatest  sum  of  similar  attractions.  The 
acid  poured  freely  into  a  vessel  containing  a  solution  of  a  hundred 
alkaline  bases  will  with  unerring  certainty  combine  with  that,  and 
with  that  only,  for  which  it  has  the  greatest  affinity.  How  much 
more  surely,  then,  will  the  soul  seek  out  its  strongest  affinities  at 
the  moment  of  reincarnation  than  the  so-called  unconscious  atoms 
on  a  plane  so  far  beneath  it ! 

There  is  no  other  theory  which  will  account  for  the  infinite 
variations  of  character  which  appear  from  the  very  moment  of 
birth.  To  say  nothing  of  our  material  environments,  to  omit  all 


74  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

notice  of  the  manifest  injustice  which  SENDS  equally  helpless  souls 
to  rich  or  poor,  to  civilized  or  cannibalistic,  to  black  or  white 
parents,  or  any  of  the  other  infinite  variations  of  merely  physical 
circumstances,  we  do  not  start  fair  in  the  race  from  a  moral  and 
intellectual  standpoint.  One  child  is  born  with  genius,  another 
an  idiot — both  of  parents  of  about  the  same  mental  capacity,  it 
may  be.  What  cause  brought  about  this  great  and  unjust  differ- 
ence, if  neither  lived  before  ?  One  infant  comes  into  the  world 
handicapped  by  a  sullen  temper  and  vicious  disposition;  another, 
with  the  most  lovable  traits.  (  If  it  is  claimed,  as  materialism 
erroneously  asserts,  that  each  inherits  its  peculiarities  from  its 
parents,  even  then  how  can  reason  accept  the  black  injustice  which 
sends  one  soul  to  the  pure  parents,  and  the  other  to  the  impure 
ones,  if  neither  had  had  any  previous  voice  in  the  matter  ?  We 
must  accept  reincarnation  if  we  would  ever  hope  to  solve  the 
awful  inequalities  which  attend  upon  birth.  No  man  could  find 
it  in  his  heart  to  condemn  his  child  to  be  born  a  poor,  innocent 
victim  of  such  fiendish  caprices,  such  an  unavoidable  life  of  tempt- 
ation, suffering,  degradation  and  death,  followed  by  an  eternal 
hell,  as  birth  to  vicious,  barbarous,  or  even  ignorant  parents 
almost  surely  presupposes;  yet  Christians  believe  this  horrible 
thing  of  a  Jehovah  whom  they  claim  to  be  of  infinite  compassion 
and  mercy  I  J  It  is  the  logical  outcome,  however,  of  a  philosophy 
whose  most  learned  divines  calmly  discuss  with  approval  such 
topics  as:  "The  Loving  Kindness  of  God  as  Evidenced  in  the 
Eternal  Punishment  of  Sinners,"*  and  "  The  Greatness  of  God 
as  Shown  in  the  SLOW  Christianizing  the  Earth. "f 

Again,  as  we  have  seen,  the  fact  that  no  two  individuals  of  the 
entire  human  race  were  ever  born  with  the  same  character,  or 
ever  acquired  the  same,  is  one  of  the  strongest  logical  proofs  of 
the  truth  of  reincarnation.  Each  babe  comes  into  the  world  with 
the  stamp  of  its  former  desires,  appetites  and  experiences  indeli- 
bly impressed  upon  it  in  the  form  of  this  individual  character. 
Materialism  claims  ante-natal  influence  within  the  womb  as  the 
cause  of  this  infinite  divergence  in  human  character;  but  the  proof 
that  this  is  not  so  is  too  abundant.  Were  there  none  other,  the 
cases  of  twin  births  would  suffice;  for  here  the  ante-natal  influ- 
ence must  be  absolutely  the  same,  yet  from  the  hour  of  birth  twin 

*Irenics.    Jas.  Strong,  S.  T.  D.,  LL.  D. 

tA  paper   by  a  minister  in  a  Christian  magazine.     Indexed  in  "  The  Review  of  Reviews/' 


PHILOSOPHIC   AND   LOGICAL   EVIDENCE.  75 

infants  often  show  the  most  marked  differences  in  disposition  and 
character.  It  is  true  that  most  twins,  for  obvious  reasons — chief 
among  which  is  the  affinity  which  drew  both  to  the  same  parents 
at  the  same  time — display  marked  similarity  in  mental  and  phys- 
ical characteristics;  but  a  working  hypothesis  must  be  one  which 
explains  all  the  phenomena,  and  these  occasional  divergences  com- 
pletely nullify  ante-natal  influence  as  a  factor. 

The  almost  infinite  differences  in  human  character  have  a  most 
profound  bearing  upon  any  philosophy  of  life,  and  can  only  be  ex- 
plained by  admitting  the  fact  of  reincarnation;  for  the  character 
as  displayed  by  babes  from  the  moment  of  birth,  and  which  through- 
out life  separates  each  man  from  all  other  men,  is  the  sum  of  the 
experiences  the  Ego,  or  soul,  has  already  undergone  and  assimi- 
lated, and  which  experiences  remain  as  indelible  impressions  upon 
and  modifications  of  the  soul's  conscious  area,  and  constitute  the 
differences  which  distinguish  it  from  other  souls.  Had  all  souls 
similar  experiences  character  would  be  inconceivable,  for  all  would 
be  alike. 

Many  of  the  desires  and  passions  which  constitute  the  larger 
portion  of  the  soul's  activities  at  any  given  time  are  necessarily 
suspended  by  the  change  called  death,  and  therefore  remain  dor- 
mant, or  latent,  until  the  soul  is  compelled  by  its  karmic  affinities  to 
again  seek  incarnation,  when  they  become  active  with  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  by  a  new  body.  Just  as  a  man's  passions  are  held 
in  abeyance  by  sleep,  to  regain  all  their  former  activity  upon 
awakening,  so  all  his  desires  and  appetites  which  are  so  gross  and 
earthly  as  to  lie  below  the  planes  of  Devachan*  remain  inopera- 
tive, but  by  no  means  destroyed,  until  he  again  awakens  to  earth 
life  in  his  new  dwelling.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  "  character"  is 
so  important  an  element  in  reincarnation.  It  is  simply  the  old 
affinities  man  has  himself  created  acting  under  molecular  condi- 
tions, determining  the  kind  of  body  in  which  he  shall  find  his  new 
habitation,  the  family,  the  nation,  the  race,  the  social  station,  the 
intellectual  trend,  the  predisposition  to  disease  or  long  life,  and 
every  other  conceivable  limitation  in  the  environment  or  circum- 
stances of  the  new  life.  All  these  limitations  are  effects  resulting 
from  causes  set  in  operation  in  former  lives,  which  causes  have, 
under  the  law  of  Karma,  or  Cause  and  Effect,  delivered  his  soul, 

*DEVACHAN — The  subjective  cycle  intervening  between  two  earth  lives.    See  chapter 
on  "Post-mortem  States." 


?  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

a  helpless,  unconscious  captive,  to  do  with  whatsoever  this  Supreme 
Law  shall  determine.  For  during  the  subjective,  or  devachanic, 
interim  between  earth  lives  the  human  will  is  in  complete  abey- 
ance. It  becomes  a  potency  during  earth  life  because  man  has 
acquired  self-consciousness  in  this  state — has,  under  that  which 
Eastern  philosophy  terms  the  Great  Heresy,  separated  Ego  from 
Non-Ego,  and  in  consequence  of  this  delusion  too  often  opposes 
his  will  to  that  of  nature.  Not  so,  in  Devachan.  Here  only  the 
spiritual  will  is  consciously  functioning,  and  all  the  unexpended 
material  or  sensuous  causes  generated  in  past  earth  lives,  and 
especially  in  the  last  of  these,  exert  their  full  affinities  entirely 
below  the  present  conscious  condition  of  the  Ego;  and  it  only 
awakens  from  its  devachanic  existence  to  find  itself  in  a  body, 
which,  under  the  karmic  law  of  Cause  and  Effect,  is  thus,  uncon- 
sciously to  it,  predetermined. 

During  one  incarnation  the  thousands  of  thoughts,  emotions, 
and  mental  states  included  in  our  every-day  life,  and  constituting 
that  thread  or  consciousness  which  materialism  insists  is  all  there 
is  at  the  base  of  our  "  I  am  I,"  constantly  crystallize  into  habits, 
desires,  and  instinctive  tendencies  to  assume  certain  mental  atti- 
tudes to  the  exclusion  of  others ;  all  of  which  enters  into  the  com- 
position of  our  personal  character.  This  latter,  in  its  larger  degree, 
is  again  crystallizing  into  our  true  or  individual  character,  or  that 
of  our  reincarnating  Ego,  or  soul.  The  memory  of  the  myriad 
states  of  consciousness  by  which  this  permanent  character  is 
acquired  is  left  behind  at  each  death  of  the  body;  but  the  result, 
the  sum  total,  is  carried  over  at  reincarnation  to  the  new  account. 
The  statue  preserves  no  record  of  the  ten  thousand  strokes  of  the 
chisel  by  which  it  was  chipped  into  shape,  yet  the  result  is  none 
the  less  beautiful  because  of  this. 

Reincarnation,  then,  affords  the  key,  and  the  only  key,  to  the 
mysteries  of  the  inequalities  of  birth;  for  the  great  divergence  of 
character  and  mental  capacity,  ranging  from  genius  to  idiocy  at 
birth,  accounts  for  the  presence  of  evil  in  the  world,  explains  "orig- 
inal sin,"  makes  immortality  reasonable  by  extending  the  exist- 
ence of  the  soul  to  an  infinite  past  as  well  as  to  an  eternal  future. 
The  last  point  mentioned — existence  in  both  directions — avoids 
the  absurdity  of  postulating  a  semp-  or  half-eternal  being — an 
existence  with  but  one  end,  which  a  soul  created  at  birth  and  hav- 


PHILOSOPHIC  AND  LOGICAL  EVIDENCE.         77 

ing  immortality  from  that  point  presupposes.  A  line  must  have 
two  ends,  whether  it  be  physical  or  spiritual. 

Reincarnation,  also,  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  scientific  con- 
ceptions of  the  persistence  of  force  and  the  conservation  of  energy; 
and  shows  how  a  cause,  once  set  in  motion,  must  have  its  effect; 
that  energies  generated  in  one  life  cannot  be  cut  short  by  death, 
but  must  find  expression  in  a  future  one;  that  the  affinity  which 
guides  a  soul  into  the  most  fitting  body  to  express  its  characteris- 
tics is  but  an  exemplification  of  the  law  of  energy  or  force  taking 
the  direction  of  the  least  resistance. 

No  effort  is  lost;  soul  force,  like  all  other  forms  offeree,  is  ever 
conserved.  The  soul  which  has  longed  and  struggled  for  a  desired 
result,  finding  its  efforts  cut  short  by  death  when,  perhaps,  on 
the  very  point  of  realization,  does  not  lose  the  fruit  of  its  toil  and 
self-denial.  The  energy  so  generated  will  accompany,  guide,  and 
control  the  next  birth  so  as  to  continue  its  expression  in  one 
unbroken  line.  No  effort,  whether  for  good  or  evil,  can  be  with- 
out its  results.  It  is  a  cause,  and  in  the  eternal  harmony  of  nature 
must  have  its  corresponding  effect. 


TJNI\ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

REINCARNATION— THE  SCIENTIFIC  EVIDENCE. 

ASIDE  from  all  philosophic  necessities  or  hypotheses,  if 
Reincarnation  be  true,  we  shall  find  evidence  of  it  in  nature, 
for  natura  non  saltet.  At  the  outset  of  this  portion  of  our  inquiry, 
we  see  that  the  repetition  of  her  processes  is  universal.  In  the 
mineral  kingdom,  the  sand,  formed  from  the  crumbling  rocks  of 
the  mountain's  side,  re-forms  into  stony  stratifications  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea,  to  be  again  upheaved,  and  reprint  the  geologic  page 
in  future  ages.  Tree  or  plant,  animal  or  human,  each  is  reproduced 
"after  its  kind,"  in  an  apparently  endless  succession.  Embryol- 
ogists  trace  the  history  of  the  incalculable  periods  during  which 
the  physical  form  of  man  evolved  up  through  the  lower  king- 
doms by  means  of  the  repetition  of  each  successive  stage,  in 
gestation.  Cell,  fish,  reptile,  bird,  animal,  man — each  step 
upward  is  repeated,  though  the  necessity  for  this  would  seem  to 
have  ceased  with  the  completion  of  the  more  perfect  design. 
Man  casts  aside  his  'prentice  efforts  once  he  succeeds,  but  nature 
ever  follows  the  familiar  pathways. 

Yet  the  countless  elemental  hosts  and  hierarchies  of  "  nature 
spirits  "  engaged  in  carrying  out  the  practical  aspect  of  evolution, 
do  not  pause  at  the  simple  reproduction  of  the  old  form.  Having 
reached  the  end  of  beaten  paths,  each  still  struggles  onward,  though 
its  progress  is  as  little  perceptible  as  the  impress  of  a  single  wave 
upon  the  beach,  which,  nevertheless,  is  slowly  wearing  away. 
This  gradual  perfection  of  type  also  shows  that  idea  precedes  form, 
and  that  nature  is  not  working  blindly,  under  the  impulse  of  unin- 
telligent force.  Ages  were  occupied  in  so  modifying  the  gills  of 
water-breathing  mammalia  that  they  could  live  in  the  purer,  rarer 
atmosphere  of  the  earth;  yet  is  it  not  evident  that  the  idea  of  the 
perfected  bird  was  present  and  potent  during  the  whole  process  ? 
Is  it  not  also  evident  that  the  idea  of  perfected  man,  with  all  his 
wonderful  organization,  was  present  when  the  first  protoplasmic 
cell  responded  to  the  force  of  the  inner,  energizing  thought? 

It  will  be  universally  admitted  that  it  is  the  idea,  and  not  the 


THE   SCIENTIFIC    EVIDENCE.  79 

form,  which  is  preserved;  the  point  of  dispute  is  as  to  the  method 
by  which  the  idea  is  carried  onward.  The  materialist  avers  that 
it  is  due  to  physical  procreation  alone;  that,  for  instance,  if  the 
dove  should  become  unfertile,  the  idea  of  it  would  perish  off  the 
earth  with  the  cessation  of  its  physical  existence.  The  Theoso- 
phist  denies  this,  and  declares  that  if  every  dove  on  earth  were  to 
die  nature  is  amply  able  to  reproduce  the  form  out  of  the  pre- 
existing idea  from  whence  it  evolved  the  species.  The  material- 
ist affirms  that  force  and  matter  have,  by  the  merest  chance, 
brought  about  the  evolution  of  form  and  intelligence;  that  both 
these  are  but  properties  of  matter,  and  are  dissipated  with  the 
dissolution  of  the  chemical  and  vital  forces  which  caused  their 
manifestation.  The  Theosophist  declares  that  spirit,  or  conscious- 
ness, underlies  and  is  the  basis  of  all  form,  and  passes  from  form 
to  form  as  these  decay  or  become  unfitted  for  its  further  occupa- 
tion. As  Plato  declares,  "  The  soul  weaves  ever  her  garments 
anew."  To  interrogate  nature  as  to  her  methods  of  taking  these 
subjective  steps  in  pursuit  of  her  objects  constitutes  the  motive  of 
this  chapter. 

Our  first  inquiry  must  be  as  to  the  identity  of  consciousness 
when  passing  from  vehicle  to  vehicle.  That  is,  does  the  same 
conscious  entity  ensoul  successive  bodies?  From  the  human 
standpoint,  the  answer  to  this  question  is  all  important.  To  the 
kingdoms  below  man  we  look  for  the  proof  of  the  affirmative  of 
the  question,  as  under  the  law  of  evolution  there  must  be  a  prep- 
aration for,  or  a  beginning  of,  the  processes  necessary. 

But  what  is  that  mysterious  process  we  so  glibly  describe  as 
"evolution"?  In  studying  the  Individualization  of  the  Soul,  in  a 
previous  chapter,  we  have  seen  how  the  widening  of  (finite)  con- 
sciousness constitutes  a  veritable  Cycle  of  Necessity,  and  forces 
centers  of  consciousness  into  successively  higher  states  and  more 
complex  forms.  But  this  presents  but  one  aspect  of  a  process 
which,  like  all  finite  ones,  is  atleast  dual.  There  is  a  tendency  in 
the  human  mind  to  demand  finalities,  both  as  to  beginnings  and 
endings,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  mental  feats  to 
accept  facts  and  phenomena  in  nature  which  never  had  a  begin- 
ning and  which  can  never  have  an  end.  Could  we  go  backward 
to  an  absolute  issuing  forth  for  the  first  time  of  Manifested  Life, 
then  this  explanation  of  the  Soul's  Cycle  of  Necessity,  and  its 
consequent  evolution,  might  seem  sufficient.  But,  though  the 


80  A  STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

mind  faints  and  the  brain  reels  in  the  effort,  we  can  not  reach  a 
point  in  time  at  which  there  does  not  have  to  be  predicated  just 
as  infinite  a  variation  in  finite  states  of  consciousness  as  now. 
Therefore,  at  the  beginning  of  any  Cycle  of  Necessity,  or  period 
of  evolution,  there  are  high  Creative  Logoi,  whose  office  it  would 
seem  to  be  to  guide  the  progressive  steps  of  an  evolution  thus 
made  necessary  by  the  widening  of  finite  consciousness  freed 
during  successive  pralayas.  For  it  can  not  be  assumed  that 
experience  in  a  lower  state  would  give  the  wisdom  necessary  for 
progress  in  a  higher  one  for  entities  far  below  the  stage  of  reason. 
Therefore,  at  each  completion  of  a  world  period,  the  matter  en- 
souled by  entities  which  have  completed  all  possible  experience 
in  that  state  is  entered  by  these  high  Creative  Logoi,  for  whom 
it  becomes  a  vesture  standing  in  a  relation  to  Them  that  the  mat- 
ter of  our  bodies  stands  to  our  centers  of  consciousness,  or  souls. 
In  this  manner  we  can  conceive  of  that  impress  being  given  which 
becomes  a  law  and  guide  for  such  atom-souls  during  all  stages 
below  self-consciousness.  After  each  successive  pralaya  of  a 
world,  or  "  Round"  as  it  is  technically  called  in  Theosophy,  a 
higher,  or  at  least  a  differing,  Logos  could  take  control  of  entities 
thus  fitted  for  further  progress;  such  incarnation  or  overshadow- 
ing representing  the  addition  of  a  new  "  Principle,"  or  state  of 
consciousness. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  all  evolutionary  failure  possible  would  be 
the  failing  by  any  entity  to  assimilate  or  make  its  own  the  Divine 
Essence  of  the  Logos  or  "Regent,"  in  charge  of  any  particular 
stage.  Below  the  condition  of  self-consciousness,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  such  Divine  Consciousness,  failure  is  practically  impossi- 
ble ;  but  the  case  is  quite  different  when  the  human  or  self-conscious 
stage  is  reached.  Here  the  human  will  becomes  an  all-important 
factor,  and  it  is  apparent  that  each  fully  self-conscious  soul,  by 
opposing  the  normal  processes  of  evolution,  can  set  up  causes 
which  will  end  in  its  annihilation  as  a  self-conscious  center  of 
consciousness — a  subject  to  be  dealt  with  more  fully  under  Post- 
mortem States.  But  with  an  entity  below  the  self-conscious 
condition,  no  such  failure  can  reasonably  be  predicated — although 
no  claim  is  set  up  hereby  that  even  these  high  Creative  Dhyanis 
are  either  infinitely  wise  or  infinitely  powerful,  which  would  be  to 
relegate  the  whole  problem  of  human  existence  either  to  a  blind 


THE    SCIENTIFIC    EVIDENCE.  8 1 

fatalism,  or  to  the  caprice  of  an  all-powerful  but  indifferent  or 
careless  Jehovah. 

From  these  premises  the  inference  is  justified  that  an  entity 
representing  a  center  of  consciousness,  whether  its  outer  physical 
clothing  be  a  plant,  a  tree,  an  animal,  or  the  human  form,  main- 
tains its  individuality  throughout  the  major  half,  if  not  the  whole, 
of  the  planetary  cycle,  or  minor  manvantara;  that  is,  that  the 
consciousnesss  (elemental  in  this  case)  of  a  tree  reincarnates  or 
re-embodies  itself  in  another  tree ;  and  similarly  for  all  organisms 
throughout  animated  nature.  For  having  once  received  a  definite 
stamp  in  any  kingdom,  it  has  acquired  individuality  to  this  extent, 
and  individuality  thus  impressed  upon  it  cannot  be  removed.  It 
may  be  added  to,  as  when  vegetable  consciousness  is  added  to 
mineral,  and  animal  to  this;  but  to  remove  it  is  unthinkable. 
Therefore,  it  logically  follows  that  the  consciousness  of  a  tree  or 
plant  impressed  upon  a  monadic  base  renders  it  impossible  for 
this  monadic  center  to  again  re-enter  the  mineral  kingdom,  just 
as  the  human  consciousness,  once  attained,  renders  it  impossible 
for  the  human  soul  to  again  reincarnate  in  an  animal,  or  any  lower 
form.  It  would  be  making  the  lesser  contain  the  greater — a 
mathematical  impossibility  and  logical  absurdity.  For  this  rea- 
son, consciousness,  having  reached  any  definite  point  of  expres- 
sion, can  only  remain  stationary,  in  opposition  to  the  evolutionary 
impulse,  or  go  forward  in  harmony  with  this. 

We  have  thus  the  strongest  and  most  cogent  reason  for  predi- 
cating the  identity  of  any  monadic  expression  of  consciousness 
when  passing  from  form  to  form,  upon  the  disintegration  or  death 
of  these.  For  the  consciousness  of  a  bear,  for  instance,  to  lapse 
back  into  a  universal  reservoir  of  conscious  force,  as  taught  by 
some  materialistic  hypotheses,  implies  the  destruction  of  all  those 
emotions  and  instincts  which  distinguish  the  character  of  the  ani- 
mal. Now,  consciousness,  substance,  and  force  are  eternally  asso- 
ciated— are  even  unthinkable  separate,  and  force  is  universally 
admitted  to  be  conserved.  Then,  how  is  it  possible  to  destroy 
that  force  which  expresses  animal  instinct?  It  cannot  be 
destroyed;  it  must  find  conservation  in  the  animal  kingdom  and 
in  the  bear,  or  some  closely  allied  species,  until  it  becomes  capa- 
ble by  evolution,  and  the  consequent  widening  of  its  conscious 
area,  of  higher  forms  of  conscious  expression. 

There  is,  thus,  an  absolute  and   logical  necessity  for  specific 


82  A  STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

reincarnation,  of  plant  in  plant,  animal  in  animal,  and  man  in  man; 
and  it  only  remains  to  examine  the  methods  which  nature  adopts 
to  secure  this  end. 

It  is  evident  that  the  universal  repetition  of  idea  in  form  through- 
out all  nature,  to  which  we  have  called  attention,  is  but  the  expres- 
sion of  a  deep  and  basic  law.  This  law  is  that  all  existence  pro- 
ceeds in  cycles,  each  having  its  objective  and  its  subjective  arc. 
Eastern  occult  philosophy  terms  the  action  of  this  universal  law 
the  "  Great  Breath,"  a  definition  in  which  Theosophy  coincides 
and  which  it  adopts.  That  finite  time  is  related  to  Infinite  Dura- 
tion by  means  of  these  cycles  of  existence,  is  a  great  and  all- 
embracing  truth,  without  the  proper  recognition  of  which  no  intelli- 
gent conception  of  reincarnation  can  be  formulated.  From  the 
major  manvantara,  occupying  unthinkable  eons  of  years,  to  the  life 
of  a  single  cell,  lasting,  in  many  instances,  but  a  few  moments,  the 
rhythmic  flow  of  motion  and  consciousness  from  without  within, 
and  from  within  without,  is  absolute,  universal,  without  exception. 
Objective  life  succeeds  subjective  life,  subjective  life  is  followed 
by  objective,  in  an  eternal  succession.  The  chain  cannot  be 
broken ;  it  is  as  continuous  as  Duration  itself. 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom,  this  ebb  and  flow  of  conscious  force 
is  within  material  limits  largely,  and  easily  studied.  Especially 
in  the  annuals  of  cold  or  temperate  climates  is  this  flux  and  efflux 
plainly  apparent.  Every  year  a  large  portion  of  the  material 
form  dies  down.  All  the  beautiful  imagery  and  design  expressed 
in  leaf,  stalk,  and  flower  perish  as  completely  as  though  they  had 
never  existed.  The  life  force  has  ebbed,  yet  not  entirely.  Root, 
rhizoma,  or  bulb  hold  in  subjective  embrace  every  detail,  even  to 
the  most  minute;  and  when  the  subjective  cycle  is  completed  the 
inner,  subjective  entity  thrills,  expands,  clothes  itself  again  with 
its  vestment  of  cells,  and  reproduces  the  dead  plant  in  all  its 
former  perfection  and  beauty.  Every  such  a  reproduction  by  a 
root  or  bulb  is  a  genuine,  specific  reincarnation  of  the  same  ele- 
mental center  of  consciousness,  or  "  elemental  soul,"*  in  the  same 
plant;  yet  we  fail  to  recognize  this.  To  us,  nothing  unusual  has 
taken  place — nor  has  there, — because  of  our  familiarity  with  the 
phenomenon.  We  say  the  plant  has  "grown"  again  from  the 

*A  "  soul,"  or  vehicle  of  consciousness  [see  Introduction],  is  termed  "  elemental"  when  be- 
low the  plane  of  self-consciousness;  "  human,"  when  it  reaches  this  plane;  "  divine,"  when  it 
passes  it.  Every  entity  in  the  Universe  either  "  is,  was,  or  prepares  to  become,  a  mau 


THE   SCIENTIFIC    EVIDENCE.  S3 

root.  But,  in  growing,  it  has  followed  a  definite  plan  and  idea. 
Was  this  hidden  in  the  shriveled  mass  of  matter,  which  gave  no 
indication  of  its  presence  whatever ?  Doubtless;  but  how?  The 
form  was  not  hidden;  only  the  elemental  entity  in  its  subjective 
arc,  or  minor  "pralaya,"  representing  the  "idea"  of  the  plant. 
In  other  words,  the  plant  has  been  living  a  subjective  life,  without 
losing  one  iota  of  that  distinguishing  character  which  made  it  a 
denizen  of  a  definite  genus,  family,  and  species.  Because  of  the 
apparent  clinging  to  material  form  in  root,  bulb,  or  seed,  the 
reality  and  importance  of  the  subjective  arc  of  the  existence  of 
the  plant  entity  has  been  lost  sight  of.  There  has  not  been  that 
total  separation  of  subjective  from  objective  existence  which  we 
find  upon  higher  planes.  There  has  been  a  preparing  for,  an 
experiment  in,  subjective  consciousness,  without  entirely  abandon- 
ing the  material  vestment,  which  is  just  what  analogy  would  have 
led  us  to  expect  in  this  kingdom,  for  natura  non  saltet. 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  is  only  by 
clinging  to  some  portion  of  the  material  form  that  specific  repro- 
duction would  be  most  practicable  here;  for  vegetable,  like  min- 
eral, consciousness  is  so  little  differentiated,  its  monadic  base  so 
general  and  diffused,  that  a  total  abandonment  of  the  material 
form  is  to  be  expected  to  prove  the  exception  rather  than  the 
rule.  Where  plants  are  reproduced  from  the  seed — in  many  seeds 
plainly,  and  probably  in  all  if  we  had  the  proper  means  of  exam- 
ination— the  form  of  the  plant  to  be  reproduced  is  already  partially 
expressed  in  terms  of  matter.  Witness  the  Hindu  emblem  of 
immortality,  the  lotus,  and  all  cotyledonous  plants.  In  fact,  the 
essential  part  of  any  seed  is  the  embryo,  upon  which  one  or  more 
leaves  are  often  capable  of  being  distinguished.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  nature-elementals  can  and  do  really  incarnate  any  ideal  form 
by  starting  from  a  single  cell,  and  that  any  lost  form  could  be  so 
reproduced;  but  the  inquiries  undertaken  in  this  chapter  do  not 
lie  along  this  particular  line.  It  is  reincarnation  we  are  studying 
— not  incarnation  in  general  terms. 

This  incomplete  reincarnation  is  universal  upon  all  planes,  but 
of  course  is  most  marked  in  the  comparatively  low  vegetable  king- 
dom. Every  tree  that  puts  forth  flower  and  foliage  with  return- 
ing spring  exemplifies  the  law.  Ripened  fields  of  grain  proclaim 
its  completion;  the  lichen,  "  creeping  up  out  of  the  rock,"  rejoic- 
ing in  its  new  vesture,  bears  witness  to  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the 


84  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

Eternal  Motion,  the  "  Great  Breath,"  the  Force- Aspect  of  the 
Causeless  Cause,  as  it  bears  on  its  bosom  the  myriad  hosts  of 
nature-elementals,  now  clothed  in  objective  form,  now  resting  in 
the  unconscious  subjective  arcs  of  their  cycles  of  existence. 

Passing  to  the  animal  kingdom,  we  find  the  evidences  of  spe- 
cific reincarnation  becoming  more  and  more  pronounced.  Other 
elements  of  consciousness  have  been  gradually  added  to  the  color- 
less base;  differentiation  has  advanced  farther,  and  anything  but 
specific  individual  reincarnation  has  become  more  difficult  in  con- 
sequence. A  distinct  step,  and  one  not  observed  in  the  vegeta- 
ble kingdom,  is  seen  in  the  metamorphosis  of  insects.  Metamor- 
phosis is,  of  course,  but  another  exemplification  of  the  repetition 
by  nature  of  steps  already  taken  in  attaining  a  desired  end;  yet  it 
is  more.  It  shows  a  deliberate  use  of  the  old  material,  a  recon- 
struction of  a  new  form  from  outworn  matter  without  permitting 
a  dispersion  of  this,  which  plainly  proves  an  unwillingness  to  enter 
subjective  realms  with  the  material  connection  entirely  severed. 
As  this  connection  was  maintained  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  by 
roots,  seeds,  and  bulbs,  so  here  it  is  accomplished  by  means  of 
larvae,  pupae,  and  perfect  insects.  Between  the  successive  stages 
is  a  condition  of  almost  perfect  subjectivity — a  Devachanic  inter- 
lude from  the  insect  standpoint, — followed  by  the  return  of  the 
objective  arc,  which  results  in  reincarnating  the  same  individual  in 
an  entirely  different  body,  constructed  out  of  the  old  material. 
Form,  function,  habit,  are  all  so  changed  that  nothing  but  the  evi- 
dence of  actual  observation  would  convince  us  that  the  beautiful 
butterfly  was  the  actual  reincarnation  and  re-embodiment  of  the 
repulsive  caterpillar. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  preparation  for  metamorphosis, 
and  its  significance  in  several  directions.  Newport,  quoted  in 
Duncan's  " Transformation  of  Insects,"  thus  describes  the  process: 

"  When  a  full-grown  larva  is  preparing  to  change  into  the  pupa  state,  it 
becomes  exceedingly  restless,  ceases  to  eat,  and  diminishes  much  in  weight. 
Many  species  spin  for  themselves  a  covering  of  silk,  termed  a  cocoon,  or  case, 
in  which  they  await  their  transformation.  Others  prepare  little  cavities  in 
the  earth,  and  line  them  with  silk,  for  the  same  purpose;  and  some  suspend 
themselves  by  their  hindermost  legs  to  the  under  surface  of  a  leaf.  In  each 
of  these  instances  the  important  change  takes  place  in  the  same  manner. 
Before  the  larva  thus  prepares  itself  for  metamorphosis,  its  alimentary  canal 
is  completely  evacuated  of  its  contents;  its  body  becomes  dry  and  shriveled, 


THE   SCIENTIFIC    EVIDENCE.  85 

and  much  contracted  in  length;  and  certain  enlargements  at  the  sides  of  the 
anterior  segments  indicate  the  now  rapidly  developing  parts  of  the  future 
pupa. 

11  The  larva  of  the  butterfly  either  fastens  itself  by  a  little  rope  of  silk  car- 
ried across  its  thorax  to  the  under  surface  of  some  object,  as  a  ceiling,  etc.,  or 
suspends  itself  vertically  by  its  hind  legs,  with  its  head  directed  downwards, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  common  nettle  butterfly,  Vanessa  urticcR.  We  have 
watched  the  changes  with  much  care  in  this  insect,  which  frequently  remains 
thus  suspended  for  more  than  ten  or  twenty  hours  before  the  transformation 
takes  place.  When  that  period  has  arrived  the  skin  bursts  along  the  back 
part  of  the  first  segment,  or  mesothorax,  and  is  extended  along  the  second 
and  fourth,  while  the  coverings  of  the  head  separate  into  three  pieces.  The 
insect  then  exerts  itself  to  the  utmost  to  extend  the  fissure  along  the  seg- 
ments of  the  abdomen,  and,  in  the  meantime  pressing  its  body  through  the 
opening,  gradually  withdraws  its  antennae  and  legs,  while  the  skin,  by  suc- 
cessive contortions  of  the  abdomen,  is  slipped  backwards,  and  forced  towards 
the  extremity  of  the  body,  just  as  a  person  would  slip  off  his  glove  or  stock- 
ing. The  efforts  of  the  insect  to  entirely  get  rid  of  it  are  very  great;  it  twists 
itself  in  every  direction,  in  order  to  burst  the  skin,  and  when  it  has  exerted 
itself  in  this  manner  for  some  time,  twirls  itself  swiftly,  first  in  one  direction 
and  then  in  the  opposite,  until  at  last  the  skin  is  broken  through  and  falls  to 
the  ground,  or  is  forced  to  some  distance.  The  new  pupa  then  hangs  for  a 
few  seconds  at  rest." 

In  describing  pupa  life  after  the  formation  of  the  pupa  case, 
the  author  continues : 

11  In  all  insects  which  undergo  complete  metamorphosis  this  is  the  period  of 
quiescence  and  entire  abstinence.  Many  species  remain  in  this  state  during 
the  greater  part  of  their  existence,  in  others  it  is  the  shortest  period  of  their 
lives." 

That  is  to  say  that  all  the  wonderful  changes  which  transform  a 
crawling,  slimy  caterpillar  into  a  glorious  vision  of  beauty  and 
freedom  take  place  in  silence  and  darkness,  "  from  within  without," 
in  the  absence  of  all  that  food  supply  which  is  so  necessary  to  the 
44  scientific"  conception  of  the  generation  and  continuation  of 
"vital"  force.  With  how  little  waste  of  matter  nature  accom- 
plishes this  conformation  of  external  form  to  internal  idea,  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  a  pupa,  weighing  some  71  grains  immediately 
after  its  transformation  in  August,  in  the  following  April  weighed 
over  67  grains,  "  having  thus  lost  but  3.7  grains  in  the  long  period 
of  nearly  eight  months  of  complete  abstinence." 


<TO  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

In  the  higher  planes  of  the  animal  kingdom,  metamorphosis  of 
the  entire  organization  practically  ceases;  the  remnants  of  it  which 
persist  being  limited  to  organs  rather  than  bodies,  as  in  the  trans- 
formation of  the  water-breathing  tadpole  into  the  air-breathing 
frog,  through  the  metamorphosis  of  the  respiratory  apparatus, 
together  with  that  of  locomotion.  The  long  abstinence  from  food 
among  insects  in  the  pupa  state  is  also  found  in  a  modified  form 
in  some  of  the  higher  vertebratae,  as  in  the  various  hibernating 
animals,  and  in  the  fasts  of  reptiles,  in  all  of  which  the  conscious- 
ness practically  retires  to  subjective  realms. 

Yet  in  this  kingdom  the  most  important  advance  made  is  in  the 
substitution  of  the  egg  for  the  seed  as  a  point  d'appui  for  the  re- 
incarnating entity.*  The  clinging  to  the  material  form  in  the 
latter  has  been  boldly  abandoned,  and  a  minute  speck  of  proto- 
plasm substituted.  This  shows  that  the  entity  has  evolved  to  a 
point  of  greater  differentiation — has  acquired  greater  confidence, 
as  it  were.  It  also  affords  room  for  greater  variation;  as  the  soul, 
whether  animal  or  human,  is  not  rigidly  bound  by  a  form  already 
partly  constructed  in  advance.  Greater  freedom  is  thus  afforded 
it  in  modifying  its  own  tenement;  and  the  evolution  not  only  of 
more  perfect  forms,  but  of  a  greater  diversity  of  organs  in  the 
same  form,  is  provided  for.  The  balance  of  evolution  has  dis- 
tinctly swung  to  the  spiritual  or  Conscious- Aspect  of  nature;  the 
middle  point  has  been  reached  in  the  animal  and  passed  in  the 
human  kingdom. 

To  sum  up,  it  is  plainly  evident  that  consciousness  ensouled 
in  the  mineral  kingdom  has  the  mineral  stamp  impressed  upon  it, 
and  is  limited  by  this  until  it  struggles  out  as  a  zoophyte  or  lichen, 
under  the  pressure  of  the  general  evolutionary  impulse.  In  this 
kingdom,  re-embodiment  as  a  universal  process  can  only  occur  at 
the  birth  of  a  new  world,  and  every  such  birth  is  a  re-embodiment 
of  a  previously  existing  planet  which  has  died.  There  is  no  cre- 
ation, in  its  ordinary  sense,  possible  in  nature.  Matter,  Force,  and 
Consciousness  are  equally  indestructible,  and  uncreate. 

*That  is,  the  highest  point  cTappui .  The  fact  that  the  lowly  forms  of  both  animal  and  vege- 
table life  approach  each  other  so  closely  that  even  the  microscope  oftentimes  distinguishes  with 
difficulty  the  kingdom  to  which  a  given  specimen  belongs,  only  shows  that  entities  from  either 
kingdom  use  the  same  protoplasm,  with  almost  identical  results,  in  form-building  in  these  low- 
ly beginnings.  It  is,  also,  a  magnificent  illustration  and  confirmation  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
an  inner  spiritual  essence,  and  not  an  outer  material  force,  causing  the  primal  appearance  and 
subsequent  evolution  of  form;  for  under  the  latter  hypotheses  there  is  no  possible  explanation 
why  two  cells  apparently  molecularly  identical  should  diverge,  the  one  into  the  vegetable,  the 
other  into  the  animal  kingdom. 


THE   SCIENTIFIC    EVIDENCE.  8/ 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom,  specific  re-embodiment  of  plants  takes 
place  under  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  natural,  cyclic  laws  known  as 
the  "  seasons."  In  the  animal,  the  metamorphosis  of  insects  abso- 
lutely proves  the  reincarnation  of  the  same  conscious  entity  in 
an  entirely  different  organism,  under  an  inner,  subjective  force, 
unaided  by  external  conditions.  And  between  the  creeping  cat- 
erpillar and  the  beautiful  butterfly  there  is  certainly  a  vaster  dif- 
ference in  form  and  function  than  is  necessitated  under  any  con- 
ditions by  the  conscious  entity,  or  soul,  merely  passing  from  body 
to  body  through  the  medium  of  intervening  subjective  states. 

Efflux  and  influx,  subjectivity  and  objectivity,  follow  each  other 
in  unending  succession,  and  are  universal  in  nature.  Life  suc- 
ceeds death,  to  again  give  place  to  its  opposite  when  the  subject- 
ive arc  of  the  cycle  is  reached.  The  periods  occupied  by  their 
alternations  are  infinitely  varied,  as  well  as  the  degree  to  which 
the  one  state  is  replaced  by  the  other.  It  is  easy  to  trace  the 
beginning  of  these  subjective  and  objective  alternations  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom  into  and  through  the  animal,  and  to  observe 
them  becoming  all  the  time  more  pronounced  and,  apparently, 
more  disconnected  from  each  other.  But  we  have  seen  that  this 
disconnection  was  only  apparent  and  not  real;  that  the  same 
entity  was  merely  passing  through  the  subjective  arc  of  its  life- 
spiral  during  the  period  we  variously  term  root-life,  metamorpho- 
sis, hibernation,  sleep,  and  death.  It  has  been  shown  that  the 
monadic  base,  the  Ray  from  the  Conscious-Aspect  of  the  Cause- 
less Cause,  being  of  necessity  uncolored  and  attributeless,  has 
attributes  and  limitations  impressed  upon  it  by  the  various  mate- 
rial experiences  it  passes  through,  and  the  widening  of  its  con- 
scious area,  as  a  result  of  this.  We  have  noticed  that  as  this  con- 
sciousness is  widened  each  addition,  to  the  human  state  at  least, 
increases  limitation  and  intensifies  individualization,  so  that  the 
range  of  possible  choice  in  reincarnation  becomes  all  the  time  more 
restricted.  Thus,  an  entity  that  could  choose  from  the  whole  min- 
eral kingdom,  in  the  vegetable  might  be  limited  to  a  genus,  in  the 
animal  to  a  species,  and  in  the  human  to  a  family. 

Now,  if  the  individualization  of  a  tulip,  even,  has  proceeded  so 
far  that  nature  has  expressly  provided  for  subjective  cycles  of  the 
same  individual,  by  the  evolution  of  a  bulb,  how  much  more  rea- 
sonable it  is  that  the  intense  individualization  in  man  should  also 
be  conserved  by  subjective  periods  in  his  life  history.  That  the 


88  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

conditions  limiting  his  consciousness  in  each  state  are  different  is 
no  argument  against  these  existing.  The  consciousness  of  a  but- 
terfly differs  vastly  from  that  of  a  caterpillar ;  nor  does  the  butter- 
fly ever  know  of  the  caterpillar  state,  so  far,  at  least,  as  we  can 
judge.  The  two  are  quite  separated  in  time.  It  logically  follows, 
then,  that  the  individualization,  carried  to  so  marked  an  extent  as 
it  is  in  man,  should  be  provided  with  subjective  periods  in  which 
to  assimilate  and  make  its  own  the  experiences  of  the  last  physi- 
cal life.  It  is  also  reasonable  that  this  experience,  being  so 
widely  varied,  should  be  best  assimilated  under  conditions  of 
entire  subjectivity.  If,  as  Plato  declares,  "  the  soul  reasons  best 
when  least  harassed  by  the  bodily  senses,"  so  much  the  better 
will  it  garner  the  wisdom  taught  by  the  fleeting  panorama  of  its 
past  life  when  entirely  free  from  physical  perturbation. 

Then,  if  everything  in  nature  is  pointing  towards  and  prepar- 
ing for  distinct  periods  of  subjective  experience  in  the  cycle  of 
human  existence,  we  can  hardly  be  wrong  when  assuming  that 
reincarnation  is  fully  and  completely  proven  by  this  preparation 
for  and  gradual  leading  up  to  it  on  her  part;  for  again  the  truism 
meets  us  that  natura  non  saltet,  and  it  would  be  a  great  deal  more 
than  a  leap  for  her  to  suspend  processes  once  inaugurated.  It 
would  be  like  a  great  river,  whose  waters  have  been  collected  from 
the  four  quarters  of  a  continent,  suddenly  ceasing  to  flow  and  dis- 
appearing into  nothingness  when  within  sound  of  its  aim  and 
end,  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  COMPOSITE  NATURE  OF-  THE  SOUL. 

FAR,  in  our  study,  we  have  spoken  of  that  which  reincar- 
nates  man  under  the  generic  term  of  Soul.  It  now  becomes 
necessary  to  use  a  more  specific  expression,  in  order  that  we  may 
determine  just  what  portion  of  man  reincarnates,  and  what  does 
not.  This  can  only  be  accomplished  by  a  study  of  that  compos- 
ite nature  of  man's  soul  which  is  evidenced  by  the  complex  char- 
acter of  his  conscious  functioning. 

All  systems  of  philosophy,  with  the  sole  exception  of  that  which 
passes  for  a  philosophy  under  the  name  of  modern  Materialism, 
recognize  the  complex  nature  of  man,  and  all  classify  this  com- 
plexity as  a  necessary  step  in  any  philosophic  analysis  of  his  being. 
In  the  Kabala,  Gnosticism  and  Buddhism,  the  division  is  into 
seven  Principles  or  basic  elements  entering  into  his  composition; 
in  Vedantin  Brahmanism  and  the  teachings  of  Lao-Tse,  there  are 
five;  in  Christianity,  three — the  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  of  Paul ; 
while  Materialism  alone  recognizes  but  one,  the  "  matter"  of  his 
body,  and  of  which  all  his  other  faculties  are,  according  to  it,  but 
properties. 

Without  pausing  to  examine  wherein  other  systems  agree  or 
disagree  with  the  Theosophic  classification,  we  will  take  up  that  as 
being  identical  with  exoteric  enumeration  of  several  great  religions, 
and  as  agreeing  esoterically  with  all  of  them.  This  is  the  seven- 
fold division,  and  corresponds  with  other  great  septenates  in  nature. 
It  separates  man  into  Body  (Sthula  Sharira);  Astral  Body  (Linga 
Sharira);  Vitality  (Prana);  Animal  Soul  (Kama);  Human  Soul 
(Manas);  Spiritual  Soul  (Buddhi);  and  Spirit  (Atman).  The 
words  in  parentheses  are  the  Sanscrit  originals,  of  which  the  Eng- 
lish equivalents  are  attempted  translations. 

From  this  classification  it  is  at  once  apparent  that  "  soul"  may 
be  defined  as  any  vehicle  for  consciousness,  as  was  shown  in  the 
opening  sentences  of  this  work;  and  the  necessity  for  an  accurate 
technology  is  seen  to  be  imperative.  For  in  the  above  enumera- 
tion there  are  three  Principles  classed  as  "  souls,"  each  being  a 
vehicle  for  a  higher  expression  of  consciousness,  while  the  Body 


90  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

and  Astral  Body  fall,  strictly  speaking,  under  the  same  category, 
both  being  also  but  vehicles  for  other  states  of  consciousness. 

Let  us  begin  this  necessarily  brief  examination  with  the  lowest 
principle,  or  the  Body.  Under  the  evolutionary  and  philosophic 
necessity,  as  previously  pointed  out,  of  higher,  more  developed 
centers  of  consciousness,  using  matter  already  the  seat  of  con- 
sciousness in  lower  expressions  of  form,  it  is  at  once  seen  that 
the  Body  represents  in  its  molecular  constitution  hosts  of  these 
lower  lives.  Every  cell  is  a  synthesized  group  of  such  lives ;  every 
organ,  a  synthesized  group  of  cells;  every  system,  a  synthesized 
group  of  organs ;  every  Body,  a  synthesized  group  of  systems. 
Now,  a  synthesis  demands — and  demonstrates — a  synthesizer.  So 
it  is  evident  that  man,  even  in  his  lowest,  most  material  aspect,  or 
Body,  represents  hosts  of  such  synthesizing  centers  of  conscious- 
ness. That  each  cell  is  an  entity,  even  science  freely  admits. 
Green,  for  example,  in  his  "Pathology  and  Morbid  Anatomy," 
states: 

"  Ever  since  Schwann  discovered  the  cellular  nature  of  animals,  and  estab- 
lished the  analogy  between  animal  and  vegetable  cells,  there  has  been  a  grad- 
ually increasing  conviction  among  physiologists,  which  has  now  become  a 
universally  accepted  physiological  and  pathological  doctrine,  that  the  cell 
is  the  seat  of  nutrition  and  function;  and,  further,  that  each  individual  cell  is 
itself  an  independent  organism,  endowed  with  those  properties  and  capable 
of  exhibiting  those  active  changes  which  are  characteristic  of  life.  Every 
organized  part  of  the  body  is  either  cellular,  or  is  derived  from  cells,  and 
under  no  circumstances  do  they  originate  de  novo." 

This  is  directly  confirmatory  of  Weismann's  theory  of  an  immor- 
tal cell  handed  down  from  parent  to  offspring,  from  modifications 
of  which,  by  the  countless  elemental  lives  actively  engaged  in  the 
construction,  maintenance  and  repair  of  his  body,  all  that  mag- 
nificent structure  is  formed.  It  has  an  important  bearing,  as  will 
be  shown  when  dealing  with  the  Reincarnating  Ego,  upon  the 
karmic  relation  of  the  Thinker  to  his  body;  this  immortal  cell 
being  the  actual  physical  basis  for  the  transmission  of  physical 
heredity. 

.  The  Body,  then,  is  simply  a  molecular  and  cellular  association 
of  lower  "  lives,"  of  various  degrees  of  consciousness,  synthesized 
and  used  by  the  Thinker,  the  true  Reincarnating  Ego,  as  a  neces- 
sary bundle  of  sense  organs  to  relate  its  higher  consciousness  to 
this  lower  plane. 


COMPOSITE  NATURE  OF  THE  SOUL.  9! 

The  Linga  Sharira,  or  Astral  body,  is  the  ethereal  counterpart 
of  the  gross  body;  the  location  of  the  centers  of  sensation;  and  the 
vehicle  ofPrana,  the  Life  Principle,  upon  one  side,  and  of  Kama, 
or  desire,  upon  the  other.  The  philosophic  and  logical  necessity 
for  such  a  body  is  abundantly  demonstrable,  yet  space  limits  to 
the  consideration  of  phenomenal  proof  alone.  These  consist  in 
dreams,  in  "  doppelgangers,"  in  "  materializations,"  in  "  repercus- 
sions" of  injuries  inflicted  during  "materializations,"  in  the  "phys- 
ical manifestations"  of  mediums  in  (low)  clairvoyance,  in  "  ghosts," 
"wraiths,"  apparitions,  etc.  The  complete  hypothetical  proof  of 
the  existence,  by  necessity,  of  such  a  body  is  to  be  found  in 
certain  phenomena  of  hypnotism.  It  is  well  known  that  hypno- 
tizers  can  prevent  their  subjects  from  seeing  any  person  or  object 
which  the  hypnotizer  designates  by  simply  willing  or  "suggest- 
ing" that  upon  awakening  they  can  not.  This  prohibition  may 
be  made  to  extend  to  any  or  all  of  the  senses,  at  pleasure.  Thus, 
in  one  instance,  the  "subject"  was  made  unable  to  see  the  body 
of  a  person  present,  but  was  permitted  to  see  his  hat.  This 
resulted  in  an  apparent  movement  of  a  hat  through  space  without 
any  perceptible  cause,  greatly  to  her  astonishment  and  dismay. 

Now,  it  is  at  once  apparent  that  if  the  centers  of  sensation  are 
located  in  the  physical  cells  of  either  retina,  optic  nerve,  or 
thalami,  nothing  but  an  actual  physical  interposition  of  matter 
upon  their  own  plane  can  possibly  inhibit  their  action.  Given 
that  physical  cells  convey  the  result  of  a  vibratory  impact  along 
physical  nerve  tracts  to  physical  ganglia,  and  we  have  a  physical 
sequence  that  only  physical  means  can  possibly  disturb.  This, 
too,  without  noting  the  further  factor  in  the  problem  of  purely 
mechanical  motion  having  been  transmuted  into  terms  of  sensa- 
tion— an  impossible  phenomenon  with  a  purely  physical  circuit. 
Nothing  but  degenerative  disease,  or  the  surgeon's  knife,  can  inter- 
pose any  barrier  between  the  vibration  and  its  translation  into 
terms  of  sensation,  if  the  whole  sequence  have  actually  been  lim- 
ited to  the  physical  plane.  Therefore,  when  phenomena  force  us 
to  admit  the  fact  of  such  inhibition  we  are  also  forced  to  postulate 
this  "inner  man"  as  the  only  possible  explanation.  Its  presence, 
also,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  proven  by  hosts  of  other  phenomena; 
and  it  is  thus  not  compelled  to  rest  its  claims  for  recognition  solely 
upon  a  hypothetical  necessity.  But  given  a  Linga  Sharira,  hav- 
ing within  it  centers  of  sensation  for  the  reception  and  transmu- 


92  A   STUDY    OF  THE   SOUL. 

tation  of  molecular  vibrations,  which  centers  respond  and  yield  to 
the  will,  then  a  stronger  will  can  interpose  between  the  soul  and 
such  centers  of  sensation,  with  the  results  brought  out  by  hypno- 
tism, the  phenomena  of  which  is  thus  satisfactorily  explained. 
This  will  be  more  fully  seen  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  bear- 
ing of  hypnotism  and  Mesmerism  upon  the  phenomena  of  con- 
sciousness. 

The  Linga  Sharira  is  formed  of  "  matter"  immediately  above 
or  "  within"  that  of  the  physical  earth.  It  disintegrates  with  the 
body,  of  which  it  is,  as  stated,  an  ethereal  counterpart,  whose 
office  is  to  furnish  a  connecting  link  between  man's  inner  Ego  and 
the  coarser  physical  molecules. 

The  third  human  Principle  is  Prana;  vaguely  recognized  by 
science  as  "  vitality,"  because  of  the  constant  occurrence  within 
the  human  organism  of  phenomena  exceeding  the  possibility  of 
being  explained  by  any  "  natural" — i.  e.,  materialistic — law.  It  is 
the  phenomenal  aspect  of  the  universal  Life  Principle  in  the  Uni- 
verse; or  of  that  which  Eastern  philosophers  call  Jiva.  Jiva  is  but 
one  of  many  terms  for  the  Force- Aspect  of  the  Causeless  Cause;  the 
latter  being  objectivized  as  the  "  Light,"  the  "  Life,"  or  the  crea- 
tive power  of  the  Logoi.  There  is  no  point  in  space  where  this 
Jiva,  or  "  Light,"  is  not  potentially  present;  when  it  becomes  a 
potency,  it  is  transmuted  into  Prana.  Thus  Prana  is  not  the  life 
principle  in  man  alone,  but  also  that  of  every  entity  in  the  mate- 
rial universe,  whether  that  entity  be  ensouled  in  the  mineral  king- 
dom as  a  stone,  in  the  vegetable  as  a  plant,  or  in  the  animal  or 
human  kingdoms  as  individual  members  of  these  natural  divisions. 
Jiva  and  Prana  are  one;  Jiva  becomes  Prana  when  apparently 
refracted  and  differentiated  by  matter  or  substance. 

The  fourth  human  Principle  is  Kama,  or  desire.  Like  all  the 
others,  this  is  also  an  universal  principle  in  nature.  It  finds  its 
point  of  grossest  and  most  material  expression  upon  the  fourth 
plane  of  the  Cosmos,  and  upon  the  seventh  subplane,  or  the 
human-animal  plane.  In  its  highest  aspect,  Kama  is  that  pure, 
untainted  spiritual  Compassion-Desire  which  brings  the  objective 
universe  into  activity,  that  it  may  again  permit  subconscious  enti- 
ties to  take  up  their  evolution  towards  freedom  from  limitation. 
In  its  lowest  aspect,  it  is  reflected  in  the  "loves  of  the  atoms"  by 
which  molecular  association  becomes  possible.  In  animals  and 
animal-man,  it  is  a  raging,  irrationalized,  insatiable  selfishness; 


COMPOSITE   NATURE   OF   THE   SOUL.  93 

the  cause  of  that  apparently  cruel  "struggle  for  existence,"  which 
we  observe  in  the  kingdoms  below  us;  and  which,  alas !  is  also 
but  too  evident  in  that  of  man. 

All  entities  in  the  Cosmos,  at  some  stage  in  their  becoming, 
reach  and  pass  through  this  intensely  kamic  plane — a  plane  only 
in  the  sense  that,  being  a  real  "property"  of  matter,  entities  hav- 
ing reached  it  exhibit  in  the  matter  with  which  they  clothe  them- 
selves this  quality  of  Rajas,  or  passion.  As  we  can  not  believe 
in  any  deliberate  cruelty  in  nature,  the  kamic  stage  must  there- 
fore be  a  necessary  and  beneficent  one.  It  may  be  the  means  of 
so  concentrating  and  individualizing  centers  of  consciousness  and 
nascent  souls  as  to  permit  of  their  being  lifted  as  individualities 
to  higher  planes.  It  certainly  affords  an  efficient  school  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  Pairs  of  Opposites  of  Eastern  Philosophers,  and  thus 
permits  and  enforces  the  widening  of  man's  conscious  area.  As 
it  will  be  further  dealt  with  in  connection  with  the  Reincarnating 
Ego,  it  is  passed  by  for  the  present. 

The  four  principles  enumerated,  and  which  are  commonly 
classed  as  the  Lower  Quaternary,  are  thus  seen  to  belong  equally 
to  man  and  to  the  kingdoms  below  him.  In  them  alone  there  is 
nothing  to  distinguish  man  from  the  animals;  nor  does  this  Quat- 
ernary reincarnate  in  the  specific  sense  in  which  we  speak  of  the 
reincarnation  of  the  human  soul.  Upon  the  death  of  a  man,  as 
the  microcosm  of  the  Macrocosm,  he  of  necessity  goes  into  a 
pralaya,  or  subjective  existence,  corresponding  accurately  to  that 
of  the  Cosmos.  For  when  the  Great  Cycle  is  completed,  when 
the  hour  of  universal  dissolution  strikes,  the  "  body"  of  the  Cos- 
mos, or  matter  upon  this  molecular  plane,  first  disintegrates.  The 
consciousness  ensouled  by  it  becomes  subjective,  or  "  latent" — a 
bare  potentiality  of  again  manifesting,  when  similar  conditions 
again  present  an  opportunity.  Next,  plane  after  plane  of  enti- 
ties ensouled  with  higher  conscious  centers  is  reached  by  the  touch 
of  Brahma-Siva,  and  each  in  turn  becomes  also  a  bare  potentiality 
during  the  eons  of  Non-Being  which  constitutes  the  Great  Pralaya. 
At  last  those  are  reached  which  have  evolved  to  the  point  of  eter- 
nal self-consciousness.  The  latter,  therefore,  pass  consciously 
into  these  eternally  subjective  planes.  An  analogy  might  be 
thought  of  thus:  Suppose  a  cold  wave  were  to  gradually  pass 
from  the  poles  to  the  equator,  freezing  every  plant,  animal,  and 
man  into  a  stony  rigidity,  but  not  <  es:roying  their  potentiality  of 


94  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

again  manifesting  all  their  former  activities  should  the  cold  wave 
pass  away  and  permit  the  old  climatic  conditions  to  be  restored. 
Let  us  suppose  this  frigid  condition  to  last  for  ages,  after  which 
it  does  pass  away  and  again  permits  of  the  resumption  of  active 
life  by  the  inhabitants  of  each  successive  zone  as  the  wave  of  cold 
recedes  northward.  If  we  further  conceive  of  this  process  of  suc- 
cessive suspension  and  regaining  of  consciousness  as  eternally 
repeated,  and  that  entities  overtaken  below  the  plane  of  subject- 
ive self-consciousness  have  no  conception  of  the  interval  passed 
in  the  frozen  condition,  we  may  dimly  imagine  that  which  takes 
place  upon  all  the  planes  below  self-consciousness  at  the  out- 
breathing  and  in-breathing  of  the  "  Great  Breath,"  or  the  great 
Cycles  of  Being  and  Non-Being — only  that  in  this  pralaya  it  is 
consciousness  which  must  be  thought  of  as  frozen  or  latent,  if 
below  the  plane  of  subjective  self-consciousness;  and  not  form,  as 
in  the  illustration  given,  for  all  form  disappears  under  the  power 
of  the  In-Breathing  of  Brahm. 

Similarly,  upon  the  death  of  the  body,  the  cell-forms  disintegrate, 
and  the  entities  ensouled  by  them  become  "  frozen,"  or  latent. 
Their  Great  Pralaya  has  struck;  their  Prana  rebecomes  Jiva;  their 
"  matter,"  now  the  abode  of  lower  unsynthesized  lives  alone,  enters 
the  general  storehouse  of  nature,  or,  rather,  returns  to  the  plane 
from  which  it  had  been  temporarily  lifted  by  this  association,  and 
may  be  and  is  used  over  and  over  again  for  similar  purposes  by 
other  entities.  The  Linga  Sharira,  which  is  but  finer  ethereal 
matter,  surrenders  its  Prana,  and  is  similarly  resolved  back  into 
its  component  lower  "  lives."  The  higher  kamic  "  elementals," 
those  which  synthesize  the  various  "organs"  of  the  body,  are  next 
reached  by  the  "inbreath,"  and  become  latent — changing  into 
those  skandhas  of  Buddhistic  philosophy  which  await  the  return  of 
the  soul  to  incarnation,  which  is  their  manvantara,  or  opportunity 
for  renewed  conscious  manifestation. 

Thus,  the  whole  of  the  four  lower  principles  take  no  part  in  re- 
incarnation as  self-conscious  entities.  There  yet  remains  that 
which  is  termed  the  Higher  Triad  to  deal  with,  which  completes 
the  Septenary  classification. 

Of  these  the  most  important  (to  us)  is  the  Reincarnating  Ego, 
the  Center  of  Self-Consciousness;  that  which  Mrs.  Annie  Besant 
first  termed  the  Thinker,  which  is  the  real  basis  of  man's  apparent 
and  (relatively)  true  individualized  existence.  But  as  this  will  be 


COMPOSITE  NATURE  OF  THE   SOUL.  95 

dealt  with  in  a  separate  chapter  it  will  be  passed  for  the  present, 
and  the  remaining  two  briefly  considered. 

Sophists  have  tried  to  show  that  the  Causeless  Cause  of  Theo- 
sophic  Philosophy  was  an  impossibility,  because  the  moment  any 
cause  is  postulated  one  antecedent  and  causal  to  it,  as  well  as  one 
subsequent,  are  at  once  required.  The  Universe,  from  this  point 
of  view,  is  but  an  eternal  sequence  of  causes  and  effects  impossi- 
ble of  interruption  or  cessation.  This  is  a  true  view  of  all  finite 
causes  and  effects.  These  are  a  series  in  which  the  cessation  of 
one  cause  as  an  effect  changes  necessarily  the  relation  of  this  to  a 
future  one,  so  that  it  becomes  in  turn  a  cause.  Yet,  if  this  is  true 
of  finite  causes  and  effects,  it  none  the  less  demands  the  postulat- 
ing, philosophically,  of  a  causal  basis  which  supports  the  whole 
finite  series  without  itself  being  in  any  way  modified  or  limited  by 
so  doing.  Thus,  if  the  series  of  finite  causes  and  effects  which 
we  recognize  as  the  manifested  or  phenomenal  Universe  be  lik- 
ened to  an  immense  series  of  arches  spanning  an  ocean,  the  exist- 
ence and  integrity  of  each  of  which  truly  depends  upon  its  imme- 
diate neighbor  upon  either  side,  then  the  Causeless  Cause  would 
be  the  solid  rock  upon  which  the  piers  supporting  all  the  arches 
rest.  That  rock  is  equally  undisturbed  and  unmodified  whether 
piers  or  arches  rest  upon  it  or  not.  And  this  non-limitation  and 
non-modification  is  the  same,  although  a  portion  of  this  rock  be 
used  in  the  construction  of  both  piers  and  arches.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  Causeless  Cause  remains  unmodified,  although  it  is  both 
the  base  upon  which  phenomenal  existence  rests  and  that  phe- 
nomenal existence  itself  (as  one  aspect  of  its  manifestation). 

Atman,  the  highest  human  principle,  is  a  Ray  from  the  Cause- 
less Cause,  and  thus  defies  definition  and  eludes  analysis.  It 
is  the  base  upon  which  man's  Thinking  Principle  rests  its  phe- 
nomenal existence.  It  is  the  pier  which  supports  the  arch  of  a 
human  soul.  But  it  also  equally  supports  and  is  the  base  of  all 
things  in  the  Universe  as  well.  It  is  the  Unknowable  Some- 
thing, or  No-thing,  rather,  which  binds  together  those  properties 
which  constitute  alike  Matter,  Force,  or  Consciousness.  Thus,  in 
gold  we  have  certain  properties,  as  ductility,  malleability,  weight, 
cohesion,  extension,  etc.  Now,  what  has  caused  these  various 
properties,  this  malleability,  ductility,  cohesion,  etc.,  to  unite  into 
atomic  form  as  gold  ?  Is  it  chance,  or  is  there  an  unifying,  syn- 
thesizing, causal  base,  upon  which  all  the  properties  of  any  so- 


96  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

called  matter  can  equally  rest  ?  Theosophy  declares  for  the  latter 
proposition,  and,  further,  insists  that  the  varied  and  multiform 
qualities  and  faculties  of  man's  divinely  complex  mind  are  also 
synthesized  by  and  rest  upon  a  Ray  from  the  same  Causeless 
Cause.  This  Unknowable  Ray,  then,  is  Atman,  and  bestows 
potentially  upon  man,  by  virtue  of  its  origin  ,all  the  Creative,  Pre- 
servative, and  Destructive  (or  regenerative)  powers  we  see  mani- 
fested in  the  Universe  about  us. 

But  a  Cause  without  an  agent  to  bring  about  its  effect  is  incon- 
ceivable— at  least,  to  all  but  Western  materialistic  philosophy. 
Therefore,  as  we  see  in  nature  an  obvious  duality  in  spirit  and 
matter,  and  recognize  that  any  absolute  law  must  obtain  on  all 
planes  of  the  Cosmos,  we  must  also  postulate  a  material  aspect  or 
vehicle  for  this  Atmic  Ray.  This  is  as  undefinable  and  metaphys- 
ical as  Atman  itself,  but  it  is  an  absolutely  necessary  philosophic 
hypothesis.  It  also  arises  as  a  perfectly  legitimate  logical 
sequence  in  following  physical  laws  into  metaphysical  domains. 
This  vehicle  for  Atman,  then,  is  called  Buddhi,  and,  like  Atman, 
is  an  universal,  indestructible  principle  potentially  present  in 
every  conceivable  point  of  space,  and,  like  the  latter,  its  apparent 
separation  in  man  or  nature  an  illusion. 

Yet  we  would  err  were  we  to  look  upon  this  base  of  the  mate- 
rial aspect  of  man's  being  as  being  only  material.  There  is  no 
pure  matter  in  the  Cosmos,  as  there  is  also  no  pure  spirit.* 
And  as  each  expression  of  consciousness,  under  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect,  must  seek  a  fitting  vehicle,  Buddhi,  being  the 
vehicle  of  the  Atmic  Ray  from  Absolute  Consciousness,  is  of 
itself  possessed  of  faculties  and  powers  infinitely  superior  to 
man,  even  in  his  highest  aspect  of  a  Thinking,  Reincarnating 
entity.  As  the  vehicle  of  Absolute  Wisdom  and  Power,  it  is 
called  the  Knower,  in  superior  contradistinction  to  that  Thinker 
next  it  which  has  to  arrive  at  knowledge  and  wisdom  by  thought 
or  reason.  As  the  vehicle  of  Absolute  Consciousness,  it  cor- 
responds, in  its  relation  to  this,  to  the  human  brain,  or  man's 
physical  basis  for  registering  conscious  experiences.  In  the  latter 
are  recorded  all  his  conscious  experiences  in  matter  during  a 

*Using  the  term  "Cosmos"  as  applied  to  our  solar  system.  What  conditions  obtain  upon 
the  Unmanifested  side  of  nature  is  not  a  subject  for  finite  inquiry.  Once  the  cycle  of  mani- 
festation is  entered,  however,  matter,  force,  and  consciousness  are  always  associated;  the  dif- 
fering degrees  of  this  association  constituting  apparently  the  modus  operand!  of  manifestation. 
(This  in  answer  to  a  friendly  critic's  objection  to  this  assertion.) 


COMPOSITE  NATURE  OF  THE  SOUL.  97 

physical  life.  In  Buddhi  is  stored,  as  corresponding  to  an  eternal, 
metaphysical  brain  of  the  Universe,  the  conscious  experiences  of 
all  manvantaras.  To  reach  the  wisdom  residing  in  this  Divine 
Vehicle,  to  widen  one's  conscious  area  to  Infinite  bounds,  is  to 
become  immortal  in  very  truth,  for  it  is  union  with  that  which  is 
One  and  Indestructible.  Such  an  union  is  undoubtedly  attain- 
able, but  before  its  attainment  stretch  such  immeasurable  vistas  of 
time,  such  inconceivable  experiences  in  consciousness,  that  at  our 
present  stage  speculation  upon  it  seems  unwarranted.  The 
union  of  the  lower  Personality  with  the  Higher  Ego  is  our  present 
evolutionary  task,  the  relation  of  which  to  each  other  and  to 
nature  will  be  next  considered. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  REINCARNATING  EGO. 

|E  have  now  reached  a  point  where  we  may  perhaps  profitably 
study  the  nature  and  function  of  man's  Fifth  Principle , 
omitted  in  the  general  review  because  its  importance  required  a 
more  extended  and  careful  consideration.  This  Principle  is  vari- 
ously spoken  of  as  Higher  Manas,  the  Reincarnating  Ego,  the 
Thinker,  and  other  names.  It  is  the  true  individuality,  as 
contradistinguished  from  the  lower,  fleeting  personalities  of  its 
successive  incarnations.  It  represents  that  aspect  or  power  of 
the  Absolute  which  causes  individualized  centers  of  consciousness 
to  first  form  and  then  to  attain  to  self-consciousness  in  the  Phe- 
nomenal Universe.  It  is  this  Principle  which  reincarnates,  for  it 
alone  represents  the  true  man.  The  Quaternary  disappears  as 
an  entity  at  death.  Buddhi  and  Atman  are  universal  non- 
individualized  Principles;  Manas,  the  Thinker,  alone  journeys  as  a 
self-conscious  entity  from  body  to  body  by  means  of  Reincar- 
nation. This  Thinker,  then,  in  its  various  relations  to  the  body, 
and  especially  in  its  aspect  as  the  Lower  Manas,  or  the  personal 
self,  remains,  after  all  possible  elimination  of  other  factors,  as  of 
prime  and  paramount  importance  in  the  problem  of  human  exist- 
ence. Let  us  study  it  carefully  and  reverentially,  for  in  and 
through  it  alone  shall  we  be  able  to  come  into  an  understanding 
of  the  Divine  in  nature  and  in  man;  for  they  are  One. 

There  has  been  shown,  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  soul,  the  gradual  process  by  which  an  atomic  center 
of  consciousness,  through  continuous  conscious  experiences, 
attains  to  the  self-conscious,  or  human,  stage,  while  on  its  way  to 
godhood.  We  have  also  seen  that  the  law  of  cyclic  periodicity 
shows  how  and  why  such  centers  are  graded  into  great  hierarchies, 
by  the  natural  limits  thus  set  to  their  emergence  from  the  bosom 
of  the  Absolute.  The  relation  which  the  Reincarnating  Ego  bears 
to  this  world  and  its  cycle  is  thus  capable  of  logical  solution. 

It  is  evident  both  phenomenally  and  philosophically  that  the 
material  Universe  is  embodied  Consciousness,  or  Consciousness 


THE   REINCARNATING   EGO.  99* 

of  infinite  gradations,  clothed  in  equally  infinite  expressions  of 
form.  As  the  Universe  ebbs  and  flows — to  finite  perception — 
from  subjective  to  objective  states  throughout  the  eternities  of 
Duration,  it  follows  that  worlds  appear  and  disappear  endlessly; 
the  Great  Pralaya,  even,  being  only  a  subjective  arc  of  larger 
immensity.  In  the  life  history  of  all  worlds,  as  is  proven  by  the 
records  now  visible  in  the  heavens,  there  comes  a  time  when  they 
cool  down  sufficiently  to  become  habitable;  when  they  pass 
through  this  stage;  when,  by  the  ebbing  of  their  life  force,  or  the 
completion  of  their  limiting  cycle,  humanities  can  no  longer  exist 
upon  them  in  material  form.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  their 
minor  pralayas,  or  deaths,  overtake  them  with  the  consciousness 
of  their  entities  in  states  of  infinite  diversity,  such  as  we  now  per- 
ceive upon  this  earth.  Hence,  there  would  be  Egos  passing 
through  the  human  stage  overtaken  when  their  world  became 
uninhabitable  for  them ;  for  the  life  cycle  of  a  planet  pursues  its 
course  perfectly  uninterrupted  and  uncontrolled  by  the  evolution 
of  any  humanity  upon  it,  although  the  two  always  correspond. 
Similarly,  were  pralaya  to  strike  for  this  earth  to-day,  would  all 
entities,  human,  animal,  or  elemental,  be  arrested  in  their  material 
evolution  and  be  compelled  to  remain  in  subjective  states  until 
other  worlds  arrived  at  stages  capable  of  affording  them  expres- 
sion in  suitable  material  forms. 

Our  Higher  Egos  have  witnessed,  it  is  claimed,  the  death  or 
pralaya  of  many  such  worlds ;  for  matter  on  our  own  physical  or 
molecular  plane,  by  its  power  of  illusion,  and  by  the  ease  and 
rapidity  with  which  its  unstable  nature  permits  of  disintegration 
and  the  entering  of  the  outworn  constituents  into  new  combina- 
tions, is  evidently  a  very  important,  if  humble,  school  in  a  Uni- 
verse where  every  entity  "  is,  was,  or  prepares  to  become  a  man."* 
Planetary  pralayas,  therefore,  have  overtaken  our  Higher  Egos,  it 
may  be,  a  great  number  of  times;  for  who  can  estimate  the  period 
necessary  in  material  states  of  consciousness  for  them  to  arrive  at 
their  present  stage?  At  any  rate,  when  their  last  world  went  into 
pralaya  they  had  not  yet  passed  beyond  the  desire  for  material 
or  sensuous  existence,  and  so  were,  under  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect,  drawn  to  human-animal  bodies  which  nature,  through  its 
lower  hierarchies  of  "Builders,"  had  been  preparing  for  their 
occupation  during  those  interminable  periods  which  geology  is 

•Secret  Doctrine . 


100  A  STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

beginning  to  recognize  as  necessary  factors  in  human  evolution. 
This  reincarnation  of  already  highly  advanced  Egos  of  former 
worlds  in  human-animal  forms,  prepared  for  them  under  the  phys- 
ical aspect  of  the  triple-sided  process  (physical,  intellectual,  and 
spiritual)  of  evolutionary  activity  upon  this  world,  is  the  key  to 
the  whole  scheme  of  human  evolution  upon  this  planet.  It  also 
solves  many  otherwise  hopelessly  insoluble  problems  in  human 
consciousness,  such  as  clairvoyance,  prophetic  dreams,  and  the 
"  buried  selves,"  so  strangely  dug  out  of  their  unsuspected  graves 
by  hypnotic  processes.  All  such  phenomena,  as  we  have  seen, 
prove  that  there  is  in  man's  body  a  soul  too  superior  to  that  body 
to  be  the  product  of  the  same  evolutionary  process  which  has  pro- 
duced its  transient  tenement  of  clay. 

Man's  Higher  Ego,  then,  as  shown  by  its  possessing  powers 
and  faculties  far  transcending  its  material  vehicle,  must  be  the  pro- 
duct of  former  world  periods.  Because  of  its  derivation  from  the 
Conscious-Aspect  of  the  Absolute,  as  a  Ray  from  Mahat  or  the 
Cosmic  Mind,  the  Reincarnating  Ego  is  a  center  of  potential  self- 
consciousness  upon  all  the  planes  of  nature  in  the  Cosmos.  This 
potentiality  has,  during  these  former  manvantaras,  become  a 
potency  upon  many  of  these  planes,  some  of  which,  as  shown  by 
the  Divine  Wisdom  of  the  Higher  Ego,  must  be  infinitely  super- 
ior to  the  sensuous  consciousness  of  this  earth.  It  now  seeks 
cosmic  perfection  by  the  evolution  or  attainment  of  this  same,  or 
perfect,  self-consciousness,  upon  all  planes  of  the  Cosmos  yet 
remaining  unexplored.  For  Self-Consciousness  is  the  aim,  the 
end,  and  the  crown  of  consciousness  upon  any  plane,  whether  mate- 
rial or  spiritual. 

Being  a  Ray  from  the  Absolute,  emanating,  as  it  must,  from  that 
Causeless  Cause  lying  hidden  behind  all  manifestation,  the  Higher 
Ego  possesses  the  creative  and  ideative  functions  involved  in  its 
own  emanation,  or  creation.  This  creative  power  in  the  Re- 
incarnating Ego — creative  in  the  sense  of  changing  or  renewing 
form  only — is  most  important  to  bear  in  mind.  It  must  not  be 
supposed  that  ordinary  men  consciously  create — that  is  a  power 
reached  by  Adeptship  alone; — or  even  that  the  Reincarnating  Ego 
consciously  creates  or  builds  its  own  bodies — that  again  is  only  pos- 
sible for  those  in  whom  the  Higher  and  Lower  Egos  have  become 
one: — but  the  Reincarnating  Ego  does  build  astral  and  thought 
forms  unconsciously,  under  the  potency  of  that  power  or  force 


THE   REINCARNATING   EGO.  IOI 

which  is  carried  with  it  in  its  emanation  from  the  Causeless  Cause. 

This  creative  power  is  the  source  of  the  Linga  Sharira,  the  sec- 
ond human  principle,  within  which  the  physical  molecules  which 
constitute  the  Sthula  Sharira,  or  physical  form,  are  moulded.  It 
is  also  the  source  of  all  thought  forms,  from  the  "  Mayava  Rupa," 
the  consciously  constructed  "  illusion  body"  of  the  Adept,  to  those 
airy  forms  and  scenes  which  in  dreams  change  and  shift  even 
while  we  gaze  upon  them,  so  unstable  and  feeble  is  the  action  of 
the  will  in  these  unrecognized,  faint  functionings  of  a  soul  thus 
unconsciously  exercising  creative  faculties. 

In  harmony  with  all  nature,  the  Reincarnation  of  the  Higher 
Ego  occurs  in  regular  cycles  of  alternating  objective  and  subject- 
ive existence.  Its  objective  arc  is  earth  life;  its  subjective  is 
termed  Devachan.*  With  the  return  of  the  Higher  Ego  to  incar- 
nation, when  its  subjective  cycle  of  existence  in  Devachan  is 
ended,  the  Linga  Sharira  for  the  new  physical  body  which  is  to 
be  built  becomes  an  active,  formative  potency.  It  awakens  into 
activity  all  those  elementals  or  "  skandhic"  forces,  in  enforced 
pralaya  during  the  devachanic  interlude.  Conception  having 
taken  place,  these  and  still  lower  hierarchies  of  Builders  begin  to 
mould  physical  cells  within  the  astral  model  so  furnished.  Here 
and  now  occurs  the  first  struggle  with  matter  and  material  limita- 
tions which  attends  all  the  subsequent  conscious  experience  of 
the  Ego  in  the  new  body.  Under  the  awakening  presence  of  the 
Higher  Ego,  the  hierarchies  of  Builders,  called  by  scientists — 
though  very  unscientifically — "natural  forces,"  must  set  to  work; 
but  this  work  is  very  greatly  modified  because  of  the  stamp  upon 
the  physical  cells  by  the  parents  of  the  physical  form,  under  the 
law  of  physical  heredity,  the  lowest  phase  of  the  triple  evolution 
before  referred  to.  On  the  other  hand,  this  physical  impress  is 
again  modified  in  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  by  the  urgent  tenden- 
cies of  the  Higher  Ego  to  express  certain  dominant  qualities 
under  the  force  of  "  skandhas"  of  past  incarnations.  Unmodified 
by  a  Higher  Ego,  man  would  represent  the  exact  average  of  the 
sum  of  his  parents'  qualities,  both  physical  and  psychic,  as  is  seen 
in  the  almost  endless  continuation  of  identical  forms  in  the  veg- 
etable kingdom  and  in  the  lower  animal — in  mollusks,  for  exam- 
ple. Unmodified  by  physical  heredity,  the  Higher  Ego  would 
have  no  real  karmic  hold  upon  earth.  As  experience  is  an  abso- 

*Devachan.     See  chapter  on  Post-mortem  States. 


102  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

lute  necessity  for  development,  the  struggle  with  this  physical 
impress  given  by  parents  under  the  law  of  physical  heredity 
affords  the  opportunity  required  to  develop  the  Higher  Ego's 
functions  and  potencies  upon  this  plane  of  consciousness.  It  also 
satisfies  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  or  Karma,  which  compels 
Egos  with  certain  characteristics  to  seek  parents  having  similar 
ones,  for  growth  must  always  proceed  from  the  present  point  of 
attainment.  Did  physical  heredity  not  modify  the  habitation  arid 
powers  of  the  Reincarnating  Ego,  there  would  be  no  reason  why 
it  should  seek  expression  through  one  parent  rather  than  another, 
and  we  would  be  forced  back  upon  the  unjust  Christian  hypothe- 
sis of  the  human  soul  having  no  voice  in  the  selection  of  its  body. 
Did  not  the  Reincarnating  Ego  have  the  power  to  very  greatly 
modify  its  material  tenement,  the  faculties  and  psychic  powers  of 
the  child  would  represent  the  average  of  the  sum  of  those  of  its 
parents,  at  best;  and  the  innumerable  instances  where  these  are 
very  greatly  transcended,  as  well1  as  those  where  the  account  is 
on  the  debit  side,  would  be  wholly  unaccounted  for. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  man's  soul  and  body  are  each  the  exact 
complement  of  the  other  so  far  as  the  karmic  adjustment  of  any 
one  life  is  concerned.  The  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other 
becomes  explicable,  and  is  but  another  illustration  of  the  absolute 
play  of  cause  and  effect,  or  of  action  and  reaction,  between  the 
material  and  spiritual  poles  of  the  One  Reality.  Intellectual,  or 
Higher  Ego,  heredity  brings  over  the  results  of  man's  entire  con- 
scious past;  physical  heredity  enables  him  to  begin  further  evolu- 
tion or  widening  of  consciousness  at  the  exact  point  where  he  left 
off,  and  along  just  those  lines  where  his  spiritual  need  is  greatest. 
Thus,  a  man  in  a  body  full  of  any  of  the  lower,  rajasic  qualities 
proclaims  to  the  world  that  his  Higher  Ego  has  need  to  further 
evolve  their  opposites,  and  such  instances  ought  to  arouse  all  our 
sympathies — call  forth  our  best  brotherly  efforts,  rather  than  that 
contempt  and  aversion  which  we  are  too  apt  to  experience.  It  is 
as  though  we  were  to  turn  shudderingly  away  from  a  pure,  saintly 
prisoner  because  the  cell  in  which  he  is  confined  is  loathsome. 

Physical  heredity  is  thus  explained :  There  are,  according  to 
Weissmann,  certain  cells  in  man's  body  which  have  never  died  since 
his  appearance  in  a  physical  form  upon  this  earth.  These  cells 
are,  necessarily,  according  to  him,  transmitted  directly  from  par- 
ent to  offspring,  and  actually  carry  forward  those  physical  quali- 


THE   REINCARNATING  EGO.  103 

ties  which  constitute  purely  physical  heredity.  But  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  predicate  an  eternal  cell,  although  this  is  possible  and 
probable.  It  is  enough  that  actual,  physical  matter  is  so  transmit- 
ted, for  no  possible  division  of  matter  into  smaller  particles  can 
destroy  or  even  diminish  its  physical  properties.  The  great  and 
all-important  quality  of  matter  is  to  register  and  record  conscious 
experiences  obtained  by  material  associations.  Upon  tablets  of 
some  degree  of  materiality  all  conscious  records  must  be  graven, 
even  though  this  be  the  Mulaprakriti  of  Eastern,  or  Primordial 
Substance  of  Western,  Philosophy. 

At  conception,  there  is  an  actual  fusion  of  cells  from  the  father 
with  others  from  the  mother,  thus  forming  one  cell — the  type  of  all 
life.  This  cell  divides,  and  subdivides,  almost  infinitely,  for  out 
of  its  subdivisions,  through  repeated  modifications,  all  the  various 
tissues  of  the  body  are  constructed.  There  is  not  nor  cannot  be 
an  introduction  of  a  single  new  or  foreign  cell  in  the  entire  organ- 
ism. All  increase  or  growth  is  by  division  of  the  original  cell, 
and  molecular  accretions  thereto  by  means  of  nutriment  supplied — 
a  fact  which  explains  the  wonderful  selective  power  the  vari- 
ous tissues  exercise  upon  the  common  food  supply.  Portions  of 
this  original  cell  are  therefore  present  in  every  other  cell  of  the 
body,  and  by  virtue  of  their  registering  qualities  carry  into  the 
new  body  the  impress  of  all  purely  physical  experiences  or  form 
limitations  of  both  parents.  The  fusion  of  two  necessarily  differ- 
ing parental  cells  gives  also  the  opportunity  and  basis  for  all 
requisite  variation.  As  the  matter  of  the  father  or  the  mother  pre- 
dominates, so  will  the  new  body  more  closely  resemble  the  one 
or  the  other  parent.  And  back  of  this,  even,  a  peculiarly  strong 
physical  impression  made  by  an  ancestor  may  dominate  that  of 
both  parents,  and  atavism  result,  or  the  same  effect  may  be 
brought  about  by  "  skandhas"  unable  to  incarnate  previously,  and 
so  lying  latent. 

Thus  is  seen  how  powerful  is  the  influence  from  the  physical 
line  of  heredity,  when  each  cell  of  the  entire  body  is  tainted  with 
every  physical  desire,  appetite,  or  passion  of  the  purely  animal 
nature  of  both  parents.  And  the  Linga  Sharira,  enmeshed  in 
these  cells,  and  being  the  seat  of  the  centers  of  sensation,  bring 
its  parent,  the  Reincarnating  Ego,  into  direct  karmic  relations 
with  all  these  animal  propensities.  It  also  affords  a  vehicle  for 
the  reawakened  skandhic  elementals  to  pour  their  stream  of  muddy 


104  A  STUDY   OF  THE   SOUL. 

desires  into  the  physical  body;  owing  to  karmic  attraction  having 
drawn  the  Reincarnating  Ego  to  parents  having  similar  character- 
istics. Thus  the  physical  conformation,  the  tendency  to  disease, 
to  a  long  or  a  short  life,  to  repeat  such  abnormalities  as  six  fingers 
or  toes,  or  such  peculiarities  as  red  hair  or  squint  eyes,  together 
with  hosts  of  other  purely  physical  limitations,  are  the  result  of 
physical  heredity,  and  transmitted  by  the  handing  down  from  par- 
ent to  offspring  of  actual  physical  matter  so  impressed,  and  with 
a  subconscious  tendency  to  repeat  the  original  impression.  The 
emotional  and  passional  nature,  while  afforded  easy  and  fitting 
expression  by  physical  cells  from  parents  having  like  characters, 
appears  to  be  of  skandhic  heredity,  and  carried  over  in  this  man- 
ner from  former  lives.  It  is  a  form  of  physical  heredity,  it  is  true, 
but  not  purely  so,  for  it  abandons  one  body  to  reincarnate  in 
another;  thus  resembling  the  "seed"  reincarnation  in  nature, 
while  the  physical  cell  heredity  is  a  case  of  pure  propagation  by 
fission.  But  no  mental  characteristics  can  be  carried  over  to  the 
new  life  thus.  As  we  have  seen,  the  conservation  of  mental  force 
requires  a  mental  vehicle,  so  that  all  purely  mental  qualities  are 
the  result  of  mental  or  intellectual  heredity,  and  come  by  and 
through  the  Reincarnating  Ego.  Mental  powers  may  be  and  are 
but  too  often  sadly  inhibited,  or  almost  destroyed,  by  overwhelm- 
ingly bad  psychic  and  physical  heredity,  which  retard  or  prevent 
their  manifestation ;  but  they  none  the  less  come  through  the  chan- 
nel of  the  Reincarnating  Ego  alone. 

The  creative  power  of  the  Higher  Manas,  then,  acting  upon 
subconscious  planes,  produces  or  creates  a  Linga  Sharira;  simi- 
larly as  on  the  subconscious  planes  of  the  Lower  Manas,  our  per- 
sonal self,  all  the  vital  activities  as  well  as  the  repair  of  wounded 
or  diseased  tissue  go  on  quite  independently  of  our  conscious 
supervision. 

On  its  own  plane  its  creative  potencies  are  exercised  consciously 
in  the  production  of  those  higher  astral  forms  which  the  Adept 
uses  when  he  abandons  the  physical,  in  his  journeyings.  With 
this  higher  creative  faculty  mankind  at  large  is  not,  at  present  at 
least,  concerned.  But  since  the  Higher  Manas  builds,  or  rather, 
causes  to  be  built,  its  physical  body,  through  creative  power  thus 
unconsciously  exercised,  in  what  manner  is  it  consciously,  and  so 
karmically,  connected  with  the  body? 

This  calls  for  an  examination  of  its  creative  functions  on  idea- 


THE  REINCARNATING   EGO.  10$ 

tive  or  mental  planes,  or  the  reflection  in  matter  of  its  true,  indi- 
vidualizing consciousness.  This  reflection — perhaps  refraction 
would  be  the  better  term — of  itself  is  quite  another  process  to  that 
concerned  in  the  formation  of  the  Linga  Sharira,  which  we  have 
been  considering,  and  is  the  most  important  of  all.  The  Linga 
Sharira  may  be  said  to  represent  its  purely  physical  expression, 
so  to  speak;  this  refraction,  the  Lower  Manas,  is  itself  mirrored 
in  material  thought  processes.  The  former  expresses  its  purely 
physical  karma,*  or  its  physical  creative  force  taking  the  lines  of 
least  resistance;  the  latter  connects  it  karmically  with  the  thoughts 
and  mental  processes  of  past  lives.  Being,  when  its  devachanic 
or  subjective  existence  between  two  lives  is  closing,  drawn  to  the 
parents  presenting  the  greatest  sum  of  karmic  affinities,  the  con- 
tact of  the  soul  with  the  growing  form  sets  up  in  the  physical  brain 
of  the  latter  a  thinking  principle,  similarly  as  a  magnet  upon  being 
brought  in  contact  with  non-magnetic  iron  imparts  magnetism  to 
this,  without  having  caused  the  smallest  change  in  those  physical 
qualities  which  constitute  it  iron.  And  as  the  evolution  of  the 
physical  form,  which  it  took  ages  for  the  Elemental  Builders,  or 
the  ordinary  evolutionary  forces  in  nature,  to  accomplish,  is 
repeated  swiftly  during  the  first  few  weeks  of  gestation,  so  is  the 
entire  evolution  of  the  Lower  Manas  also  repeated  during  the  first 
few  years  of  the  child's  life.  For  these  Builders  only  push  matter 
up  to  the  animal  or  kamicf  plane ;  the  brooding  presence  of  the 
Higher  Manas  must  impart  the  stimulus  which  brings  it  where  it 
is  of  sufficient  transparency,  so  to  speak,  to  receive  and  refract  its 
image.  It  will  be  at  once  plain  that  our  Lower  Manas,  the  ordi- 
nary self,  is  thus  a  portion  of  the  very  essence  of  the  Higher,  just 
as  the  magnetism  in  the  iron  is  a  portion  of  that  in  the  magnet. 
And  just  as  the  magnet  may  be  withdrawn  from  its  contact  with 
the  iron,  leaving  a  portion  of  its  magnetic  qualities  to  slowly  dis- 
sipate; so  may  the  Higher  Manas  be  separated  entirely  from  its 
lower  reflection,  thus  constituting  for  the  latter  a  veritable  "  loss 
of  the  soul." 

For  this  portion  of  the  Higher  Manas  actually  refracted  or  incar- 
nated in  matter  is  ourself — the  "  I  am  myself*  of  our  earthly 
life.  Could  it  remain  simply  a  portion  of  the  Higher,  its  functions 

*KARMA — the  sequence  of  causes  and  their  effects.  Karmically — brought  about  under  th« 
law  of  cause  and  effect,  etc.  Used  in  this  work  to  avoid  cumbersome  English  phraseology 
only. 

t  KAMA— Sanscrit  for  desire,  especially  associated  with  animal  or  non-intellectualized  desini. 


106  A   STUDY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

and  fate  might  be  different;  but  this  is  impossible.  As  the  pure 
ray  of  light  is  colored  by  the  color  of  the  glass  which  transmits  it 
until  it  is  indistinguishable  from  that  tint,  so  is  the  Lower  Manas 
colored  and  changed  by  its  contact  with  Kama  (sensuous  desire), 
the  chief  and  ruler  of  the  earthly  Quaternary.  All  the  fierce 
desires,  the  unrest,  the  sensuous  appetites,  the  "  lusts  of  the  flesh," 
of  the  latter  at  once  seize  upon  it,  and  impart  to  it  that  curious 
mixture  of  the  animal  with  the  Divine  which  we  name  the  lower 
self,  or  Personality.  This  could  not  occur  had  not  the  kamic  Prin- 
ciple in  the  lower  Quaternary  been  already  evolved  to  a  point 
where  it  is  not  only  able  to  receive  the  magnetic  impress  of  Manas, 
but  to  color  this  with  its  own  qualities  of  passion  and  desire. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  writer  that  it  must  not  be  inferred  from 
the  above  that  only  a  portion,  as  it  were,  of  the  Higher  Manas 
incarnates  in  the  lower  Quaternary,  leaving  the  rest  to  enjoy  a 
kind  of  superior  consciousness  upon  other  planes.  While  the 
teaching  is  reserved  upon  this  point,  still  there  is  enough  given 
out,  in  the  Secret  Doctrine  and  elsewhere,  to  make  it  reasonably 
certain  that  each  individuality  has  but  one  center  of  consciousness, 
and  that  this  is  not  in  full  activity  in  two  places,  nor  in  two  or 
more  states,  at  the  same  time.  While  it  is  active  upon  one  plane 
it  may  have  a  subconsciousness  on  others,  just  as  we  may  be 
reading  and  yet  be  conscious  of  noise  about  us.  But  this  is  only 
a  subconsciousness,  not  a  splitting  of  it.  Therefore,  when  once 
the  Higher  Manas  has  perfected  its  vehicle  sufficiently  to  permit 
this,  it  would  seem  that  it  only  functions  through  that  vehicle 
when  this  is  active,  for  its  very  activity  compels  its  use  as  a 
vehicle.  In  other  words,  our  "  I  am  myself,"  or  individualizing 
center  of  consciousness  which  comes  from  the  Higher  Manas  and 
is  its  distinguishing  characteristic,  is  functioning  actively  only 
through  the  body  when  this  is  in  the  waking  state,  although  its 
subconsciousness  may  extend  over  many  higher  planes.  When 
the  body  ceases  its  activity,  as  in  sleep  or  death,  then  it  can  of 
course  retire  to  its  own  proper  spheres,  to  be  dragged  down  from 
these  by  its  kamic  connection  with  the  body  when  this  awakens. 
It  follows,  then,  that  when  awake  and  occupied  by  material  or 
sensuous  thoughts  only,  the  Higher  Manas  is  simply  paralyzed — 
its  consciousness  upon  this  plane  a  potentiality  only,  somewhat, 
perhaps,  like  that  of  the  lower  consciousness  when  inhibited  by 


THE  REINCARNATING   EGO.  IO/ 

hypnotism.     This  is  its  daily  crucifixion,  and  the  true  meaning  of 
all  the  religious  myths  of  crucified  Saviours. 

Yet,  though  the  Higher  Manas  be  paralyzed  as  to  conscious 
functioning,  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  wholly  or  even  partially 
incarnated  in  the  body,  nor  is  it  even  ever  fully  conscious  upon 
this  plane  except  when  its  Higher  and  Lower  aspects  have  been 
enabled  to  unite,  through  the  latter  having  conquered  in  its  con- 
test with  Kama.  The  oneness  and  yet  the  separateness  of  the 
Higher  and  Lower  Manas  is  one  of  the  hardest  of  mystic  teach- 
ings to  understand.  It  is  another  illustration  of  the  "  Same  and 
the  Other"  of  which  Plato  taught  that  the  Universe  was  con- 
structed. Perhaps  the  phenomena  of  an  ordinary  Faradic  electri- 
cal battery  may  help  us,  by  analogy,  to  a  better  conception.  In 
this,  the  current,  generated  by  the  zinc  and  carbon,  or  other  ele- 
ments, in  the  presence  of  an  acid  or  saline  solution,  is  passed 
through  a  coil  of  insulated  wire.  Around  this,  in  what  is  tech- 
nically termed  the  helix,  is  coiled  another  wire,  also  completely 
insulated,  and  entirely  disconnected  from  the  first,  or  "  primary," 
coil.  There  ought,  therefore,  to  be  no  current  in  this  latter,  or 
"  secondary,"  coil,  yet  the  instant  the  current  from  the  chemical 
cell  is  passed  through  the  primary  coil  there  is  set  up  in  the 
secondary  at  each  opening  and  closing  of  the  primary  circuit  a 
modified  current,  known  as  " induced"  electricity.  Because  there 
has  been  no  actual  contact  between  the  two  coils,  this  secondary 
current  is  thus  said  to  have  been  produced  by  "induction" — one 
of  those  convenient  terms  by  means  of  which  science  seems  to 
explain  so  much,  while  really  explaining  nothing.  Without 
attempting  to  account  for  the  real  origin  of  this  induced  current, 
except  to  point  out  that  the  electro-dynamic  waves  in  the  ether, 
discovered  by  Prof.  Hertz  of  Bonn,  will  give  all  necessary  clews, 
the  analogy  to  the  origin  of  the  Lower  Manas  and  its  relation  to 
the  Higher  is  very  close.  The  presence  of  the  Higher  Manas, 
overshadowing  the  body,  originates  a  distinct  Thinking  Principle 
in  the  brain  of  the  latter,  in  a  manner  strikingly  similar  to  the 
induced  current  of  electricity — that  is,  by  imparting  to  the  latter 
its  own  essential  qualities.  Thus  it  can  be  at  once  seen  that, 
while  the  Lower  Manas  is  caused  by  and  is  of  the  very  essence 
of  the  Higher,  it  is  yet  distinct  without  being  separate.  With- 
draw the  primary  current,  and  the  induced  will  disappear;  with- 


I08  A  STUDY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

draw  the  Higher  Manas,  and  the  Lower  perishes,  the  chief  dis- 
tinction being  in  the  slower  process  in  the  latter  case. 

Perhaps  a  closer  analogy  to  the  behavior  of  the  Higher  and 
Lower  Thinking  Principles  after  death  is  afforded  in  the  phenom- 
ena of  transferred  magnetism  just  referred  to.  For,  in  the  illustra- 
tion given,  when  artificial  magnetism  has  been  imparted  to  non- 
magnetic iron,  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  true  magnet  is  seen 
almost  identically  that  phenomenon  which  takes  place  upon  the 
separation  of  the  Higher  and  Lower  Manas.  A  portion  of  mag- 
netism remains  in  the  iron,  to  be  slowly  or  quickly  dissipated,  as 
the  case  may  be;  it  having  apparently  become  entangled,  so  to 
speak,  in  the  molecules  of  the  latter,  or  having,  more  correctly, 
caused  a  polarized  arrangement  among  those  molecules  whose 
vibratory  ratio  exhibits  the  qualities  of  magnetism.  So,  at  death, 
only  that  portion  of  the  Lower  Manas  is  withdrawn  which  is  un- 
tainted by  Kama.  That  portion  colored  by  Kama  is  left;  a  residue, 
having,  by  virtue  of  its  original  Manasic  origin,  enough  still  of  the 
unconscious  creative  power,  before  referred  to,  to  clothe  itself  with 
an  astral  form ;  thus  constituting  the  "  Kama  Rupa,"  which,  sense- 
less and  fallen  as  it  is,  is  still  the  "guide"  of  many  a  poor,  ob- 
sessed "  medium."  For  while  having  no  center  of  consciousness 
capable  of  feeling  and  functioning  as  such,  still  it  is  capable  again , 
by  virtue  of  its  Manasic  origin,  of  having  a  false  feeling  of  per- 
sonality reflected  into  it  by  the  Lower  Manas  of  a  "  medium."  This 
reflection  may  so  synthesize  its  fading  consciousness  as  to  enable 
it  to  connect  itself  with  its  past  life,  and  to  relate  the  leading 
events  of  this  quite  accurately.  Its  feeling  of  "  I  am  myself  is 
thus  an  illusion  of  an  illusion,  if  we  may  be  allowed  the  expres- 
sion, for  the  feeling  of  "  I  am  myself,"  which  we  experience  in 
our  waking  state,  real  as  it  seems,  is  entirely  illusive,  being 
reflected  there  in  a  similar  manner  by  the  overshadowing  of  the 
Higher  Manas.  It  only  exists  because  of  its  connection  with  the 
latter,  and  is  added  to  the  sum  total  of  the  experiences  of  its  par- 
ent at  death,  as  the  memory  of  each  day  may  be  said  to  be 
added  to  the  sum  of  the  consciousness  of  our  personal  selves. 
For,  having  drawn  what  of  wisdom  it  may  from  each  associa- 
tion with  a  body,  the  Higher  Manas  withdraws  at  death,  tak- 
ing all  of  Lower  Manas  which  has  freed  itself  from  Kama,  leav- 
ing the  remains  of  Lower  Manas  and  Kama  to  disintegrate  in 


THE  REINCARNATING   EGO.  109 

Kama  Loca.*  And  as  there  are  many  days  that  leave  little  or 
no  impress  upon  the  consciousness  of  our  personal  selves,  so  there 
may  be  many  lives  having  but  small  record  on  the  tablets  of  the 
Higher  Manas,  while  some  may  be  forgotten  altogether. 

These  forgotten  lives  are  the  most  dreadful  fate  which  may 
befall  a  personality,  for  they  are  truly  "  lost  souls."  The  whole 
of  the  reflected  portion  of  the  Higher  Manas  has  been  sunk  so 
low  in  kamic  desires  and  passions  that  there  is  no  union  possible 
after  death;  and  the  Personality,  strong  by  virtue  of  this  robbing 
of  the  qualities  of  its  parent,  clothes  itself  in  a  powerful  Kama 
Rupa  and  becomes  an  active  agent  for  evil,  while  at  the  same 
time  descending  its  own  arc  to  utter  annihilation  amidst  indescriba- 
ble suffering,  of  which  the  realization  of  its  impending  fate  is  not 
the  least. 

We  may  now,  perhaps,  dimly  perceive  the  relation  between 
Higher  Manas,  the  Thinker,  which,  with  Atma  and  Buddhi  as  a 
Monadic  base,  constitute  the  Reincarnating  Ego,  and  Lower 
Manas,  its  reflection  in  matter,  which  constitutes  the  personal  self. 
The  one  is  the  result  of  the  evolution,  through  unthinkable  aeons 
of  time,  of  an  individualized,  spiritual,  self-conscious  soul;  a  self- 
conscious  Ray  from  the  Great  Cosmic  Thinking  Principle;  the 
potency  of  Thought  in  the  Atmic  Ray  individualized.  It  persists 
throughout  all  minor  manvantaras  and  pralayas;  through  all 
obscurations  or  destructions  of  worlds  or  systems.  Yet  of  itself 
it  is  not  immortal.  It  must  become  one  in  essence  with  Buddhi, 
the  Eternal  Knower  and  Recorder,  to  win  eternal  persistence  as 
an  individual  entity.  Similarly,  the  Lower  Manas  can  only  sur- 
vive one  life  by  becoming  one  in  essence  with  its  source;  by  free- 
ing itself  from  the  attractions  of  Kama  and  returning  to  its  source 
with  the  tribute  of  its  conscious  experiences  in  matter  to  add  to 
the  already  stored  wisdom  of  the  latter.  The  Lower  Manas  is 
thus  but  the  illusory  reflection  of  the  Higher,  when  this  has  been 
karmically  drawn  to  a  human-animal  body  by  its  desire  and  neces- 
sity for  complete  knowledge  of  the  material  and  sensuous  states 
of  consciousness  upon  this  plane  of  existence.  This  reflection,  or 
refraction,  thus  produced,  wins  its  immortality  according  as  it 
approximates  towards  its  Divine  parent  or  yields  to  the  sensuous 
delights  of  Kama.  And  not  only  this ;  but  of  even  more  impor- 
tance,  since  personal  immortality  is  more  the  concern  of  many 

•See  Chapter  on  Post-Mortem  States. 


HO  A  STUDY   OF  THE   SOUL. 

incarnations,  it  determines  in  each  life  by  its  thoughts  and  acts 
the  social  environment,  the  race,  the  nation,  the  family,  the  intel- 
lectual trend  and  capacity,  and  the  ease  or  difficulty,  even,  with 
which  the  Higher  Manas  can  control  the  following  life  or  person- 
ality; so  intimate  is  the  karmic  relation  between  the  two.  For 
while  the  Higher  Manas,  as  compared  to  its  reflection,  is  god-like 
in  its  wisdom  and  powers,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  it  has  per- 
fected wisdom  on  this  plane.  If  it  had,  the  necessity  for  repeated 
incarnations  might  be  questioned.  And  the  tendencies  of  our 
finite  minds  is,  all  the  time,  to  take  the  finite  view  of  everything — 
to  want  to  complete  and  round  out  the  whole  scheme  and  plan 
of  the  Cosmos  in  a  few  years.  This  is  the  pitiful  mistake  which 
Christian  theology  falls  into  in  predicating  the  completion  of  man's 
earthly  destiny  in  one  short  life.  Our  Higher  Egos  may  have 
spent  manvantaras  in  other  humanities  developing  on  quite  dis- 
tinct lines  from  those  which  we  vaingloriously  imagine  include  all 
possible  mental  and  spiritual  characteristics;  they  may  spend  man- 
vantaras to  come,  evolving  consciousness  along  equally  unsus- 
pected lines. 

Yet,  god-like  and  wise  as  is  the  Higher  Manas,  it  has,  as  we 
have  thus  shown,  to  descend  life  after  life  to  overshadow,  impart 
its  own  essence  to,  and  acquire  wisdom  through  and  from  the 
human  bodies  with  which  it  is  karmically  associated.  During  the 
waking  states  of  these  bodies  it  can  only  function  through  them 
by  means  of  its  reflection,  the  Lower  Manas,  which  is  thus,  for 
this  period,  its  only  •  conscious  avenue  for  reaching  this  plane. 
Yet  so  dimmed  and  discolored  is  the  Lower  Manas  by  the  desires 
and  passions  of  Kama  that  the  consciousness  transmitted  through 
it  by  the  Higher  Ego  may  well  be  compared  to  the  light  from  a 
sunbeam  struggling  to  penetrate  an  opaque,  densely  stained  prison 
window.  To  the  prisoner  within,  who  has  never  known  any  other 
light,  the  purity  and  brilliancy  of  the  source  of  the  dim,  scarcely 
discernible  ray,  penetrating  the  gloom  of  the  cell,  might  well 
remain  a  matter  of  doubt,  or  even  of  absolute  disbelief.  Yet  in  a 
precisely  similar  manner  does  our  Higher  Ego  overshadow  our 
gross  material  body,  struggling  to  penetrate  and  enlighten  its 
inner  darkness;  whispering  to  our  Lower  Soul  in  the  divine  voice 
we  recognize  as  conscience;  prompting  us  to  altruistic  work  for  hu- 
manity; filling  our  hearts  with  its  divine  compassion;  the  true 


UN 


THE  REINCARNATING   EGO.  I  1 1 

source   of  every  aspiration   to  become  purer,  wiser,  and   more 
unselfish  than  we  feel  ourselves  to  be. 

And  the  task  of  every  human  soul  is  to  help  in  this  great  evo- 
lution of  spiritual  consciousness ;  to  turn  the  strength  of  a  puri- 
fied will  consciously  to  the  aid  of  nature  in  the  warfare  between 
good  and  evil,  between  light  and  darkness,  between  Life  and 
Death.  This  struggling,  sinning,  suffering  Personality  can  only 
return  to  and  become  one  with  its  divine  progenitor  by  freeing 
itself  from  all  coloring  of  Kama — by  the  utter  killing-out  of  desire. 
How  important,  then,  a  correct  conception  and  realization  of  the 
nature,  inter-relations,  and  mutual  dependence  of  our  Higher  and 
Lower  Egos  become!  By  this  knowledge,  and  only  by  it,  is  it 
possible  to  formulate  a  theory  of  ethics,  a  rule  for  human  action, 
for  right  living  and  thinking,  which  shall  explain  why  a  man  ought 
to  strive  to  be  pure,  passionless,  altruistic;  to  live  in  the  spiritual 
portion  of  his  nature;  to  yield  a  willing,  loving  obedience  to  the 
dictates  of  his  Higher  Self;  to  treasure  each  glimmering  Ray  from 
its  Divine  Light,  even  though  it  take  the  form  of  stern  rebuke,  as 
of  a  million  times  more  value  than  all  the  gold  of  Ophir! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PERSQNALITY. 

LTHOUGH  considered  at  some  length  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
the  lower  self,  or  the  man  of  earthly  sorrows,  woes,  ambitions, 
appetites  and  desires,  which  all  of  us  are  while  encased  in  these 
material  vestments,  may  still,  perhaps,  be  examined  profitably  as 
a  separate  study.  The  Personality  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the  lower 
Quaternary,  or  the  Man-animal,  intellectualized  by  the  incarnation 
of  the  Higher  Ego,  from  one  point  of  view,  and  the  Higher  Ego 
itself,  benumbed,  paralyzed,  and  its  consciousness  suppressed  or 
distorted  and  discolored  by  the  imperfect  sense  organs  of  its  body, 
from  another.  To  disentangle  and  define  just  what  the  relation 
of  the  Personality  to  the  Higher,  Reincarnating  Ego  is,  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  difficult  of  tasks,  and  one,  perhaps,  impossible 
until  man's  reasoning  faculties  are  quickened  and  corrected  by 
intuition.  The  theory  which  follows  is  submitted  for  considera- 
tion only.  It  has  no  authority,  except  that  it  seems  a  reasonable 
hypothesis  in  view  of  the  many  phenomena  it  explains. 

We  have  seen  that  reincarnation  is  an  universal  law;  that  it 
obtains  on  every  plane  and  in  every  kingdom  of  nature.  It  has 
also  been  shown  that  it  is  always  specific,  and  occurs  under  the 
law  that  not  only  do  causes  produce  their  inevitable  effects,  but 
that  like  causes  produce  like  effects.  In  other  words,  the  cause 
must  not  only  be  equal  to  the  effect,  but  must  correspond  to  this 
effect  in  essence  or  nature.  Material  causes  cannot  originate  con- 
scious effects,  and  vice  versa.  For  this  reason,  all  reincarnation 
must  be  specific;  each  class  conserving  its  own  differentiation  of 
consciousness.  An  animal  must  reincarnate  in  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  in  some  species  like  to  itself  in  character.  Thus  the  con- 
scious center  of  a  tiger,  for  example,  must  reincarnate  in  an  ani- 
mal having  similar  characteristics. 

The  condition  of  these  animal  centers  of  consciousness  between 
incarnations  also  bears  upon  the  problem.  It  has  been  stated  that 
they  become  latent;  but  this  is  a  vague  term.  It  must  not  be 
understood  that  they  lose  their  identity  as  conscious  centers. 


THE   PERSONALITY.  113 

The  term  "latency"  is  used  to  distinguish  their  state  from  the 
devachanic  one  of  the  human  soul.  In  the  latter,  consciousness 
does  not  cease  to  function,  but  only  transfers  the  scene  of  its 
activities  to  inner  or  subjective  planes.  In  animal  souls,  the  con- 
sciousness becomes  a  potentiality  only;  it  ceases  to  exist  as  an 
active  potency  even  on  subjective  planes.  That  consciousness  is 
capable  of  this  cessation  of  activity,  or  change  of  the  mode  of  its 
manifestation,  is  abundantly  shown  by  analogous  phenomena  on 
the  physical  plane.  Thus,  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  when  combined 
as  water,  cease  to  exist  as  gases,  without  at  all  losing  the  poten- 
tiality of  again  returning  to  gaseous  states  when  their  association 
as  water  is  terminated.  This  mysterious  ability  to  retain  a  primal 
potentiality  throughout  infinite  sequences  of  later  correlations  and 
associations  is  another  key  to  the  mystery  of  evolution,  and  to  the 
manner  in  which  everything  in  the  Universe  may  philosophically 
and  actually  have  its  source  in  Absolute  Unity.  For  if  hydrogen 
and  oxygen  can  combine  to  form  water,  so,  also,  can  water  be 
decomposed  into  hydrogen  and  oxygen  again.  It  is  therefore 
evident  that  not  only  can  everything  in  the  Universe  arise  out  of 
Unity,  but  that  the  reverse  is  also  true — that  all  things  can  be 
resolved  back  into  Unity  with  equal  certainty. 

This  latent  condition  of  animal  centers,  then,  is  a  retiring  of 
such  centers  into  states  where,  though  their  identity  disappears 
as  a  potency,  it  is  preserved  as  a  potentiality.  It  is  the  state  to 
which  all  mineral, 'all  vegetable,  and  most  animal  conscious  cen- 
ters retire.  It  is  as  near  an  approach  to  the  primal  monadic  con- 
sciousness as  the  evolution  of  these  centers  will  permit.  But,  as 
all  planes  of  consciousness  pass  gradually  into  those  above  and 
below,  so,  also,  in  the  higher  animals  are  there  evidences  of  the 
beginnings  of  subjective  states.  Dogs,  canaries,  etc.,  undoubtedly 
dream,  and  this  ability  must  include  the  power  to  maintain  a  sub- 
jective existence  for  brief  periods  after  death.  In  other  words, 
many,  if  not  most,  animals  have  a  stage  in  their  life  cycle  corre- 
sponding, in  a  lower  degree,  to  that  of  Kama  Loca  in  man. 

It  will  now  have  become  apparent  to  what  all  this  leads.  Since 
animals  have  a  subconscious  center,  or  "  elemental,"  which  per- 
sists as  an  entity  not  only  through  latent  states,  but  also  through 
real  subjective  ones  as  well,  it  is  plain  that  the  human  animal  also 
has  such  an  "  elemental,"  only  of  higher  degree.  This  "  human 
elemental"  is,  evidently,  the  source  to  which  we  have  to  look  for 


114  A  STUDY   OF  THE  SOUL. 

the  next  humanity,  in  a  becoming  which  is  necessarily  infinite  in 
duration.  It  is  this  nascent  human  center  which  flames  up  under 
the  intellectualization  of  its  animal  desires  into  the  larger  portion 
of  that  which  we  recognize  as  the  "  personality."  When  the 
rationalizing  presence  of  the  lower  Manas  is  withdrawn  by  death, 
it  is  this  entity  which  runs  riot  during  the  brief  period  of  its  abil- 
ity to  maintain  a  subjective  existence  in  Kama  Loca,  both  before 
and  after  the  Higher  Ego  passes  into  the  tranquillity  of  Devachan. 
It  is  its  still  raging  desires  which  at  first  disturb  and  prevent  the 
devachanic  rest  of  the  soul.  It,  also,  is  able  to  flame  up  again 
under  the  influence  of  the  Lower  Manas  of  a  "  medium,"  when,  of 
course,  it  may  often  give  correctly  facts  concerning  its  past  life, 
and  especially  those  so  powerfully  impressed  upon  it  by  the  man- 
ner of  the  death  of  its  body. 

Yet  there  is  in  it  no  "  I  am  I,"  except  it  be  reflected  there.  It 
has  not  evolved  to  this  point  by  many  cycles.  That  which  each 
one  feels  as  his  "  I  am  myself,"  if  his  consciousness  be  upon  the 
material  plane  and  concerned  with  sensuous  desires,  is  only  a 
reflection  from  the  Higher  Ego,  faintly  shining  through  the  intellect 
of  the  human-animal.  It  is  thus  an  illusion,  and  must  remain  so 
unless  one  can  so  hush  the  clamors  of  the  senses  as  to  permit  his 
consciousness  to  rise  to  its  own  divine  plane.  Withdraw  Manas, 
and  the  "  brain-mind"  collapses,  all  sense  of  "  I  am  myself"  dis- 
appears, and  the  human  "  elemental,"  after  gathering  itself  together 
as  the  "  spook"  or  "  Kama-Rupa,"  for  a  brief  period  of  uncanny  sub- 
jective existence,  becomes  "  latent";  retiring  from  even  subjective 
thought-planes  until  a  new  reincarnation  enables  it  to  become  a 
potency  by  clothing  itself  once  more  in  a  human-animal  form. 

Within  this  human-animal  reside  all  sensuous  passions,  desires, 
and  appetites;  all  those  "  qualities"  of  rage,  greed,  cunning,  and 
hosts  of  others,  which  the  Hindoo  philosophers  class  as  "  rajas" 
and  "  tamas."  Western  theology  would  fain  have  us  believe  these 
lower  "  devilish"  qualities  to  be  inherent  in  man's  true  or  spiritual 
nature.  They  are  a  part  of  its  conception  of"  original  sin";  and, 
truly,  a  "  vicarious  atonement"  by  an  omnipotent  god  is  necessary 
if  these  are  really  constituents  of  our  spiritual  being.  But 
Eastern  metaphysicians  fall  into  no  such  error.  These  qualities 
are  foreign  to  and  impossible  of  existence  upon  the  spiritual  planes 
of  the  Higher  Ego — so  much  so  that  they  can  not  even  be 
impressed  upon  its  divine  memory.  They  can  only  be  experi- 


THE   PERSONALITY.  11$ 

cnced  by  proxy,  as  it  were,  or  by  the  Higher  Ego  incarnating  in 
an  animal  form  where  these  have  their  normal  plane  of  activity. 

From  its  own  plane,  the  Higher  Ego  brings  its  own  native  pow- 
ers. Intuition  or  direct  perception  of  truth,  justice,  and  virtue; 
complete  unselfishness;  prophetic  power;  and  so  on,  may  be  taken 
as  types.  It  is  also  the  source  and  plane  of  true  self- consciousness. 
By  its  simple  presence  it  intellectualizes  the  lower  rajasic  appe- 
tites and  passions,  thus  rendering  them  a  thousand-fold  more  dif- 
ficult to  subdue.  The  process  is,  as  we  have  seen,  similar  to  the 
contact  of  the  magnet  imparting  magnetism  to  non-magnetic  iron. 
But  to  intellectualize  only  is  not  its  mission.  It  must  spiritualize 
these  lower  qualities,  and  transmute  the  experience  so  acquired 
in  the  contest  into  a  knowledge  of  their  "  opposites,"  which  can 
be  recorded  and  preserved  on  its  own  divine  plane. 

All  the  "  qualities,"  all  the  passions,  desires,  appetites,  and  intel- 
lectual powers,  even,  of  purely  animal  man  are  to  be  found  in  vary- 
ing degrees  in  the  lower  animals.  As  an  animal,  man  in  no  way 
differs  from  other  animals  except  in  degree,  and  this  degree,  in 
many  of  the  lower  instincts,  is  relatively  and  actually  lesser  in 
him.  If  one  were  to  attempt  a  diagrammatic  illustration  of  the 
effect  upon  animal  man  of  the  incarnation  of  his  Higher  Ego,  it 
might  be  shown  first  in  what  the  "quality"  consisted  upon  the 
animal  plane,  what  it  becomes  when  merely  intellectualized,  and 
what  when  spiritualized  or  transmuted.  Thus,  in  its  highest  ani- 
mal type,  the 

1NTELLECTUALIZKD.  SPIRITUALIZED. 

Cunning  of  the  Fox,  Becomes  Cheating;  Inventive  Skill. 

Vanity  Peacock,  "       Love  of  Dress;  True  Self-Respect. 

Ambition   "      Eagle,  "       Desire  of  Fame;  Desire    for   the    Advance- 

ment of  the  race . 

Greed,  Swine,  "       Love  of  Riches;  Altruistic  Desire. 

Rivalry,     "      Horse,  "       "Wars,  Prize  F'ts;  To  help  others  succeed. 

Cruelty,     ••      Tiger,  ••       Slave-Driving, 

Wage-Robbing;  Indifference    to    Personal 

Suffering. 

Philosophy  Building.High- 
Mechanic  Skill  of  the  Bee,  ••       Palace  Building;  er  Mathematics,  etc. 

The  Personality,  then,  in  its  lower  aspect,  is  this  human-animal 
rationalized  by  lower  Manas.  Yet  the  presence  and  action  of  the 
latter  must  not  be  overlooked  in  our  too  close  stuc  y  of  the  lower 
aspect,  or  we  shall  have,  at  best,  but  an  one-sided  conception  of 
our  lower  self.  Through  the  various  Principles  which  connect  the 
Thinker,  or  Higher  Ego,  with  the  body,  and  especially  by 
means  of  lower  Manas,  the  Higher  Ego  is  able  to  project  rays  of 


Il6  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

its  own  divine  ideation  upon  the  brain  cells;  to  infuse  its  con- 
sciousness into  the  "  brain-mind,"  and  so  purify  by  its  own  golden 
light  the  muddy  flames  of  brain  intellectuality.  The  voice  of  con- 
science is  a  message  direct  from  this  divine  inner  sufferer  and 
prisoner,  who  knows  by  virtue  of  its  own  native  powers  the  eth- 
ical bearings  of  any  doubtful  question  or  transaction.  There  is  no 
need  for  time  to  consider  or  reason;  the  judgment  is  instantaneous 
and  unmistakable;  the  soul  is  before  the  tribunal  of  its  own 
divinity  for  the  brief  moment  the  warning  voice  is  heard. 

If,  then,  there  be  no  "  I  am  myself"  in  the  Personality  except 
as  reflected  there  by  the  presence  of  the  Higher  Ego,  thus 
"  clothed  in  a  coat  of  skin,"  thus  "  crucified  in  the  bonds  of  flesh," 
it  is  at  once  evident  why  there  can  be  for  it  no  immortality.  The 
lower  aspect  which  has  flamed  up  under  the  vivifying  presence  of 
the  Higher  Ego,  as  the  dimly  burning  flame  of  a  night  lamp  might 
under  the  impetus  of  a  jet  of  pure  oxygen,  fades  into  bare  latency 
after  death.  It  can  not  endure  even  as  a  memory;  for  its  pas- 
sionate cycle  of  existence  is  not,  nor  can  it  be,  recorded  in  the 
memory  of  the  Divine  Higher  Ego.  The  latter  retires  to  sub- 
jective planes,  and  in  Devachan  assimilates  the  wisdom  acquired 
in  its  last  life  on  earth.  All  is  gone — the  lower  aspect  of  the 
Personality  to  the  oblivion  of  latency,  the  higher  to  its  source. 

How,  then,  is  any  immortality  possible  for  the  Personality? 
Only  in  the  memory  of  the  Higher  Ego  of  the  period  during 
which  it  spent  a  life  cycle  in  such  or  such  a  body  is  any  record 
preserved.  The  association  is  remembered  as  the  memory  of 
such  or  such  a  dwelling  occupied  by  man  during  one  life  might 
be.  Illumined  by  some  noble  act,  some  self-sacrificing  deed,  how 
the  memory  of  all  surroundings  shines  forth  out  of  the  obscurity 
of  common-place,  selfish  existence!  Every  detail  remains  vivid; 
the  act  and  all  its  accessories  of  environment  or  circumstance  are 
accurately  preserved. 

So  with  our  Personalities.  It  is  possible  to  so  illumine  our  life 
with  noble  and  unselfish  deeds  and  thoughts  that  it  shall  remain 
a  vivid  and  pleasant  memory  to  our  Higher  Ego  throughout 
eternal  vistas.  It  is,  also,  possible  to  permit  the  consciousness 
of  our  divine  Self  to  be  so  drowned  in  the  clamor  of  the  senses, 
to  be  so  suppressed  by  a  wicked,  selfish,  or  even  a  vain  or  idle 
life,  that  no  record  is  preserved.  Such  a  life  is  a  day  in  which 
"nothing  happened  to  us";  forgotten,  not  because  of  this,  but 


THE    PERSONALITY.  I  I/ 

rather  because  we  permitted  it  to  pass  without  making  it  live  in 
our  memory  by  some  good  deed  done  to  our  fellow-men. 

Such  will  be  the  fate  of  most  of  the  Personalities  now  upon  the 
human  stage.  The  biblical  warning,  "  Behold,  they  are  neither 
hot  nor  cold,  therefore  will  I  spew  them  out  of  my  mouth,"  con- 
tains an  occult  truth  it  would  be  well  to  ponder.  The  memory  of 
such  lives  will  be  taken  to  Devachan,  to  be  dreamed  over  and 
their  foolish  fancies  enacted  in  pleasant,  illusory  "  castles  in  the 
air,"  and  the  soul  will  then  be  returned  to  earth  for  renewed  oppor- 
tunities to  live  a  higher,  nobler  life.  But  beyond  Devachan  such 
lives  can  not  pass.  There  their  cycle  terminates  forever  as  surely 
as  that  of  the  animal  soul  terminates  in  latency.  It  can  not  be 
too  strongly  impressed  that  only  truly  spiritual  or  unselfish  deeds 
survive  in  the  eternities  of  the  memory  of  the  Higher  Ego,  for 
like  causes  can  only  produce  like  results.  Animal,  earthly,  or 
kamic  causes  can  not  be  followed  by  spiritual  effects;  the  stream 
can  not  rise  higher  than  its  source. 

There  is  yet  one  aspect  of  the  Personality  which  must  be  con- 
sidered before  we  can  fully,  or  even  partially,  grasp  its  entire  func- 
tions and  potencies.  This  is  the  possibility  of  its  complete  separ- 
ation from  the  Higher  Ego  through  deliberately  choosing  the  low, 
sensuous  plane  of  the  Quaternary,  and  the  cruel,  conscienceless 
struggle  for  existence  which  there  has  its  normal  field  of  activity. 
By  stifling  the  voice  of  the  Higher  Ego,  or  conscience;  by  ally- 
ing itself  to  evil;  by  vice  and  crime  committed  with  the  full  reali- 
zation that  they  are  vices  and  crimes — there  becomes  possible  for 
the  Personality  the  fate  of  its  utter  and  entire  extinction.  The 
rationale  of  this  may  be  readily  understood  by  what  has  already 
been  explained  as  to  its  Post-mortem  history.  We  have  seen 
how  intensely  the  presence  of  the  Thinking  Principle,  the  Re- 
incarnating Ego,  rationalizes  those  which  before  were  merely  ani- 
mal passions  and  desires.  If,  now,  the  Higher  Manas  fail  entirely 
to  spiritualize  these,  the  "  I  am  myself"  of  such  a  person  is  only 
that  of  an  animal — more  cunning,  more  selfish,  more  conscience- 
less and  more  cruel,  by  a  thousand-fold,  than  if  the  Higher  Ego 
had  never  incarnated  within  it.  The  whole  of  the  energy  aroused 
and  imparted  by  the  latter  is  absorbed  by  the  human  animal. 
Instead  of  burning  for  a  time  in  Kama  Loca,  like  the  smoking 
wick  of  a  candle  whose  flame  has  been  extinguished,  this  being 
enters  this  plane  at  death  with  all  its  potencies  for  evil  in  full  act- 


Il8  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

ivity.  No  Devachan  is  possible;  and  as  all  its  desires  rage  furi  - 
ously  earthwards,  their  very  force  will  carry  it  speedily  to  a  new 
reincarnation,  and  we  then  have  a  Jesse  Pomeroy,  or  a  Deeming, 
horrifying  mankind  by  his  atrocious  crimes.  So  great  may  have 
been  the  impetus,  so  powerful  the  energy  thus  robbed  from  Manas, 
that  a  series  of  these  human-animal  incarnations  may  occur,  each 
more  soddenly  brutal  than  the  last,  until  an  incarnation  such  as  a 
jabbering  idiot  at  the  end  prefaces  the  final  plunge  into  animal 
latency.  As  a  nascent  center  of  human  consciousness,  the 
human-animal  Personality  can  not  be  destroyed;  but  it  is  evident 
that  it  can  so  cut  itself  off  from  the  Higher  Ego  upon  one  hand, 
and  from  the  natural  evolutionary  activities  of  the  upcoming 
animal  monads  upon  the  other,  that  it  is  quite  separated  from  all 
chance  of  progress  during  incalculable  periods.  For  the  same 
widening  of  the  area  of  its  evil  nature  which  cut  it  off  as  unlike 
and  unassimilable  by  the  Higher  Ego,  also  made  it  unlike  and 
superior  in  evil  to  the  kingdom  below;  and  it  can  not,  therefore, 
re-enter  this.  Of  its  fate,  however,  after  it  has  lost  all  of  its  bor- 
rowed glory,  and  after  it  no  longer  recognizes  itself  as  the  man 
who  had  once  the  opportunity  to  become  divine,  it  is  useless  to 
speculate.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  the  sufferings  of  such  a 
Personality  must  be  awful,  indescribable.  For  whether  he 
reincarnate  immediately,  or  whether,  this  reincarnation  being  for 
karmic  reasons  impossible,  he  obsesses  poor  "  mediums,"  to  their 
ultimate  sharing  of  his  fate,  alike  must  he  expiate  to  the  full  every 
crime  or  evil  thing  done  during  the  time  he  forged  the  chains 
which  bound  him  to  so  terrible  a  destiny. 

This  is  a  fate  which  can  overtake  every  human  Personality,  and 
the  fact  should  be  known  as  an  evolutionary  possibility.  There 
are  too  many  evident  failures  upon  the  purely  physical  plane — too 
many  infant  deaths — not  to  make  it  plain  by  correspondence  and 
analogy  that  there  may  be  also  failures  upon  the  mental  plane. 
Let  each  one  who  considers  himself  too  far  over  the  line  of  dan- 
ger pause,  and  seriously  question  himself  as  to  whether  his  life  is 
lighted  by  the  pure  flame  of  spirituality,  or  whether  he  is  not, 
after  all,  living  an  unsuspected  life  of  merely  animal  emotions, 
instincts,  and  appetites,  intellectualized  to  such  a  brilliancy  that 
the  glow  may  prove  a  false  beacon  light  to  the  ultimate  wreckage 
of  his  soul;  for  it  can  not  be  too  often  nor  too  strongly  insisted 
upon  that  no  amount  of  mere  intellectuality  removes  us  from  the 


THE    PERSONALITY.  lip 

animal  plane  to  the  safety  of  spiritual  existence.  Altruism  is  the 
law;  compassion,  the  means;  self-sacrifice,  the  surety,  of  existence 
upon  the  stable  spiritual  planes  of  being. 

The  monadic  base  upon  which  our  center  of  consciousness  rests 
is  alone  eternal  and  immortal.  Our  Higher  Ego  depends  for  its 
immortality  upon  rising  to  this  monadic  base  in  its  conscious  func- 
tioning. In  a  much  greater  degree  is  the  personal  Ego  depend- 
ent upon  the  Higher  for  its  promise  of  eternal  life.  All  turns,  as 
we  have  seen,  upon  the  plane  in  which  the  personal  "I"  habitu- 
ally functions;  upon  how  deeply  it  permits  itself  to  be  dragged 
below  the  Divine  plane  to  that  of  mortal  passions  and  desires. 
Meanwhile,  as  our  Higher  Ego  gathers  strength  and  expands  its 
consciousness  through  this  experience  of  many  lives,  its  reflec- 
tions in  material  incarnations,  or  personal  "  I  am  I's,"  become 
also  stronger,  and  the  loss  of  any  one  of  them  through  having 
been  overcome  by  sensuous  attraction  grows  more  serious,  both 
to  Higher  Ego  and  lower  personality.  For  the  mutual  reaction 
and  interdependence  of  the  (Higher,)  Ego  free  and  the  (lower) 
Ego  incarnated  are  very  great,  or  successive  incarnations  under 
the  iron  law  of  cause  and  effect  would  not  take  place  as  they  now 
inevitably  do. 


CHAPTER  X. 

POST-MORTEM  STATES  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS. 

a  recognition  of  the  truth  of  the  continuous  evolution  of 
the  soul  by  means  of  Reincarnation  precludes  all  such  puerile 
and  childish  conceptions  of  Post-mortem  states  as  the  Christian's 
"heaven"  and  "hell,"  the  Spiritualist's  "  Summerland,"  or  the 
Materialist's  blank  negation,  it  becomes  necessary  to  examine  into 
this  phase  of  the  Ego's  existence  from  the  view-point  of  the  larger 
philosophy.  As  few  men  have  evolved  the  ability  to  consciously 
penetrate  during  life  to  those  inner  planes  where  the  Reincarnat- 
ing Ego  of  necessity  retires  upon  the  death  of  its  physical  body, 
it  follows  that  the  teachings  concerning  the  Post-mortem  states  of 
consciousness  are  somewhat  ex  cathedra.  Nor  is  there  anything 
derogatory  to  intellectual  dignity  in  accepting  statements  of  this 
nature  from  those  who  are  in  a  position  to  know  as  sufficient  evi- 
dence of  the  facts.  We  willingly  accept  the  statements  of  astron- 
omers, mathematicians,  chemists,  etc.,  as  to  facts  beyond  our 
reach  physically,  and  often  above  our  perception  intellectually, 
because  they  are  known  to  be  experts  by  virtue  of  study  along 
these  particular  lines.  We  are  under  equal  obligations  to  accept 
information  or  facts  concerning  the  spiritual  aspects  of  our  being 
from  known  students  and  experts  in  these  fields.  Both  classes  of 
data  are  equally  capable  of  personal  verification — the  one  by  the 
exercise  of  our  intellectual,  the  other  by  our  spiritual,  faculties. 
And  spiritual  truths  at  first  veiled  by  spiritual  blindness  may  be 
perceived  later  by  persistent  cultivation  of  the  spiritual  faculties, 
for  growth  and  power  follow  exercise  of  these  as  certainly  as  that 
using  the  hammer  enlarges  and  strengthens  the  biceps  of  a  black- 
smith. 

However,  information  and  knowledge  concerning  these  Post- 
mortem states  are  not  purely,  nor  even  largely,  ex  cathedra.  The 
teaching  has  all  the  authority  of  a  philosophic  hypothesis  which 
fully  explains  and  synthesizes  the  phenomena  within  its  proper 
territory.  Were  there  no  other  reason  for  accepting  it,  the  fact 
that  it  explains  the  chaotic  phenomena  of  "  spiritualism"  would 
alone  entitle  it  to  our  respectful  consideration;  and  when  to  these 


POST-MORTEM    STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  121 

are  added  large  classes  of  cognate  and  quite  unclassified  super- 
sensuous  facts,  it  may  be  said  to  rest  upon  a  strictly  philosophic 
and  scientific  basis. 

The  Theosophic  classification  of  these  Post-mortem  or  ante- 
natal states  is  into  Kama  Loca,  Devachan,  and  Nirvana — terms 
borrowed  from  the  Sanscrit  because  of  the  want  of  accurate  Eng- 
lish synonyms.  These  are  simply  states  of  consciousness,  depend- 
ent upon  the  relation  of  Ego  to  its  material  vestments  and  environ- 
ments. Our  ordinary  waking  consciousness  is  dependent  upon 
and  conditioned  by  the  sense  organs  of  the  body,  being  the  result, 
as  pointed  out  in  the  chapter  upon  the  Physiological  Evidence  of 
the  Soul,  of  innumerable  molecular  shocks  or  changes  arising 
chiefly  without,  but  also  within,  the  organism.  Deprived  of  sense 
organs  by  death,  consciousness  depends  upon  the  ability  of  the 
Ego  to  function  upon  interior  planes  of  ethereal  substance.  The 
ordinary  man  has  not  evolved  to  the  point  of  being  able  to  do 
this,  so  that  after  complete  separation  from  his  lower  and  more 
truly  "  material  "  principles  his  consciousness  becomes  subjective 
— a  state  analogous  to  pure  dream,  and  undisturbed  by  any  real, 
objective  phenomena  whatever.  Before  reaching  this  state  of 
pure  subjectivity,  however,  the  consciousness  has  to  pass  through 
a  process  of  gradually  abandoning  these  lower  vehicles.  This 
condition  of  mixed  objectivity  and  subjectivity  is  termed  Kama 
Loca;  that  of  pure,  dreaming  subjectivity,  Devachan;  while  Nir- 
vana may  be  defined  as  consciousness  upon  planes  so  far  interior 
to  this  one  of  molecular  matter  that  he  who  enters  it  self-con- 
sciously can  never  return  to  lower  worlds — loses  all  possibility  of 
response  to  molecular  vibration.  All  are  in  their  nature  and 
essence  subjective  states  of  being,  as,  indeed,  all  consciousness 
necessarily  is.  The  Conscious-Aspect  of  the  Causeless  Cause 
ever  appears  subjective  in  its  relation  to  the  Substance-Aspect,  its 
material  vehicle. 

Since  physical  consciousness  is  manifested  on  the  physical 
plane  of  matter,  which  latter  to  our  senses  is  certainly  a  place,  in 
like  manner  Kama  Loca  consciousness,  being  limited  to  the  lower 
astral  plane  of  substance,  may  also  be  understood  as  connected 
with  locality,  that  locality  being  the  Linga  Sharira  of  the  earth. 
But  these  associations  of  locality  are  not  essential.  The  place 
where  consciousness  is  experienced  is  nothing;  the  state  itself, 
everything. 


122  A   STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

All  states  of  consciousness,  too,  may  be  actually  experienced 
while  the  body  is  on  the  physical  plane,  and  all  have  their  phys- 
ical correspondences  in  our  ordinary  waking  consciousness.  An 
Arhat  attains  to  Nirvana  while  yet  in  the  physical  body,  because 
he  has,  through  the  efforts  of  his  trained  will,  risen  beyond  the 
limitations  of  this  vehicle  for  purely  sensuous  consciousness.  An 
ordinary  man  experiences  Devachan  on  earth.  The  day-dreamer, 
building  "  castles  in  the  air,"  very  closely  approximates  this  con- 
dition, because  his  mind  has  cast  off,  for  a  time,  its  material 
fetters,  and  functions  on  an  inner  and  more  spiritual  plane.  The 
sensual  and  passionate  man  finds  himself  very  closely  approx- 
imating the  Kama  Loca  state  when  yielding  to  the  angry  impulses 
of  his  lower  nature,  for  the  reason  that  his  consciousness  is  then 
limited  to  the  physical  correspondence  of  that  plane.  The  analo- 
gous states  of  day-dreaming,  anger,  or  passion,  are  not  accurately 
identical  with  Devachan  or  Kama  Loca,  for  the  reason  that  with 
the  former  states  there  is  always  the  modification  of  the  Thinking 
Principle  through  its  connection  with  the  body,  while  in  the  latter 
this  union  is  severed  by  death,  and  the  impeding  action  of  our 
physical  senses  due  to  physical  stimuli  is  withdrawn.  Still,  we 
will  be  best  able  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  real  Kama  Loca 
and  Devachan  by  a  close  study  of  their  physical  analogies;  for, 
as  we  have  said,  they  are  the  actual  states,  excepting  for  this 
modification  by  the  physical  body  and  lower  Principles.  It  is  the 
one  center  of  consciousness,  modified  by  the  vehicle  which 
expresses  its  dominating  condition;  while  in  the  body,  if  in  a 
passion,  the  Animal  Soul,  or  vehicle  for  the  expression  of  this 
form  of  mental  energy,  is  of  necessity  used — as  a  mechanic  is 
compelled  to  take  up  a  different  tool,  when  he  wishes  to  cut,  from 
that  he  uses  for  polishing  only.  On  the  other  hand,  this  passional 
vehicle  could  not  be  employed  for  devachanic  day-dreams;  one 
can  not  build  castles  in  the  air  while  in  a  furious  passion. 

It  must  not  be  understood  from  the  above  that  the  Higher  Ego 
ever  gets  into  a  passion,  or  in  any  similar  emotional  state,  itself. 
All  these  passional  activities  belong  to  the  consciousness  of  the 
various  hierarchies  synthesized  in  man's  body.  The  kama- 
manasic  reflection  of  the  Higher  Ego  is  the  agent  by  means  of 
which  the  latter  is  brought  into  sense-relations  with  this  plane, 
and  this  center  of  consciousness  vibrates  from  one  to  another  of 
these  vehicles  under  the  impelling  influence  of  the  personal  will. 


POST-MORTEM   STATES   OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  123 

This  personal  will  is  the  reflected  will  of  the  Higher  Ego  tainted 
and  colored  by  the  desires  and  delights  of  sensuous  existence.  It 
is  thus  the  offspring  of  the  personal  or  kama-manasic  consciousness, 
and  represents  the  underlying  motive  which  directs  our  whole  per- 
sonal existence.  It  is  created  by  kama-manasic  or  brain  thought, 
which  thought  arises  out  of  the  physical  stimuli  of  sensuous 
existence.  Thus  is  seen  the  nature  of  the  intimacy  between  body 
and  soul,  and  also  the  importance  of  controlling  the  kama-manasic 
or  lower  brain  thought,  or  of  not  permitting  these  sensuous  stimuli 
to  engross  the  entire  attention  of  this  center  of  consciousness. 
"  As  a  man  thinks,  so  he  is."  If  we  continuously  find  ourselves 
getting  into  rages,  it  is  not,  as  most  of  us  delude  ourselves  into 
fancying,  the  result  of  an  unhappy  combination  of  environing  cir- 
cumstances, but  because  we  live  habitually  upon  this  level.  If 
our  desires  really  ran  in  the  direction  of  purity  and  spirituality, 
the  same  set  of  circumstances  would  arouse  no  corresponding 
vibrations  within  us;  we  would  be  non-receptive  to  them,  as  com- 
pletely as  we  now  are  to  the  ultra-violet  rays  of  the  spectrum. 
Through  all  the  psychic  storms  raging  in  the  body,  the  Higher 
Ego  is  only  a  spectator,  powerless  to  affect  the  result  except  as 
its  lower  reflection  controls  or  yields  to  the  tempest  of  vibrations 
arising  in  these  rajasic  elementals. 

The  effect  of  permitting  the  center  of  consciousness  to  wander 
from  plane  to  plane,  according  as  this  or  that  desire  demands  a 
hearing  or  clamors  for  its  attention,  is  more  far-reaching  than  is 
generally  recognized.  It  is  the  karmic  agent  which  is  largely 
determining  the  conditions  of  our  next  subjective  life  as  well  as 
the  following  incarnation. 

Perhaps  a  resort  to  object  teaching  may  help  to  elucidate  this. 
Let  us  suppose  man  to  be  living  within  a  hollow  sphere  or  globe, 
modeled  after  the  fashion  of  that  he  now  lives  upon.  Let  us  fur- 
ther suppose  this  globe  to  have  a  north  and  a  south  pole — that  is,  a 
spiritual  and  a  material  extreme.  An  equator  would  then  divide 
its  upper  spiritual  from  its  lower  material  hemisphere.  Below 
this  equator  would  be  the  physical  and  Kama  Loca  consciousness; 
above,  the  devachanic  and  nirvanic.  At  the  upper  pole  would  be 
the  ethereal,  spiritual  attraction  of  his  Higher  Self;  at  the  lower, 
the  kamic  desires  of  his  physical  body,  and  each  constantly  exert- 
ing its  utmost  power  to  draw  his  kama-manasic  center  of  conscious- 
ness to  its  own  pole.  This  kama-manasic  center  of  consciousness 


124 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 


may  be  likened  to  a  smaller  globe,  ever  oscillating  within  the 
greater  one.  Now  it  floats,  under  the  impulse  of  some  altruistic, 
spiritual  impulse,  far  above  the  dividing  equator  into  the  spiritual 
region.  In  an  instant  it  descends  to  material  zones,  as  some 
earthly  desire  or  fit  of  passion  reaches  it  through  the  physical 
senses.  Thus  it  ever  vibrates  to  the  impulses  arising  out  of  sen- 
suous experiences  unless  controlled  by  the  will,  crossing  the  divid- 
ing line  between  the  spiritual,  permanent  life,  and  the  fleeting, 
physical  one,  perhaps  a  thousand  times  a  day.  With  some  excep- 
tionally spiritual  natures,  the  oscillation  may  be  within  the  deva- 
chanic  zone  of  consciousness  for  days  or  weeks,  without  ever  touch- 
ing the  fatal  equatorial  line  of  animal  appetites  or  selfish  interests. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  gross  sensualist  or  materialist  might  keep 
his  consciousness  oscillating  entirely  below  the  line  of  spirituality 
for  months,  or  even  a  lifetime. 

Carrying  our  illustration  a 
step  further,  let  us  suppose  this 
larger,  or  environing,  globe  to 
have  the  power  of  responding 
to  and  recording  each  visit  made 
by  the  smaller  globe,  represent- 
ing the  kama-manasic  conscious- 
ness, to  any  of  its  planes  or 
zones,  either  devachanic  or  those 
of  Kama  Loca  or  Nirvana.  Let 


us  suppose,  also,  that  this  record 
takes  the  form  of  a  kind  of  men- 
tal or  thought  deposit  within  the 
greater  globe,  and  which  under 
the  accretion  of  numberless  visits 
grows  into  a  thought  fund,  so  to 
speak — a  memory-deposit,  upon 
which  the  Higher  Ego  can  draw 
in  order  to  maintain  a  conscious 
connection  with,  or  memory  of, 
its  last  life  on  earth,  during  the  interval  which  must  elapse  in 
Devachan  before  it  can  again  descend  into  the  world  of  causes 
by  reincarnating. 

This    fanciful    thought-deposit    roughly   represents    a   fact   in 


POST-MORTEM   STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  12$ 

nature;  for  just  as  our  physical  brain  responds  to  and  records 
molecular  vibrations,  so  do  spiritual  thoughts  and  desires  set  up 
vibrations  upon  higher  planes,  and  which  are  recorded  upon  their 
permanent  tablets.  These  illustrations,  crude  and  imperfect  as 
they  of  necessity  are,  enable  us  to  catch  a  glimpse — a  shadowy 
conception,  at  any  rate — of  the  mutual  inter-relation  and  inter- 
dependence of  our  life  upon  earth  and  that  which  awaits  us  after 
death.  By  them  may  be  seen  how  we  are  daily  and  hourly  cre- 
ating the  conditions  which,  without  the  arbitrary  interference  of 
any  personal  god,  will  determine  our  state  in  the  next  or  subjective 
phase  of  our  existence,  as  well  as  the  conditions  which  will 
environ  our  next  objective  life. 

After  death,  when  the  physical  vehicle  of  consciousness  is 
destroyed,  the  soul,  if  it  have  not  evolved  the  power  of  objective 
consciousness  upon  the  inner,  astral  planes,  is  compelled  to  con- 
tinue its  existence  in  a  subjective  state.  A  blind  man  cannot 
see,  nor  a  deaf  one  hear;  they  lack  the  physical  organs.  There- 
fore, when  all  of  man's  physical  senses  are  annulled  by  death, 
either  his  consciousness  is  annihilated,  as  the  materialists  claim, 
or  it  uses  inner  senses  to  project  the  astral  plane  objectively,  or  it 
must  become  subjective — that  is  to  say,  it  must  enter  upon  a 
dreaming  state  similar  to  that  which  obtains  during  life  when  the 
physical  senses  are  paralyzed  by  sleep.  Then  what  happens  after 
death,  returning  to  our  globe  illustration,  would  evidently  be  this: 
The  grossly  physical  attraction  at  the  lower  pole  being  removed, 
the  consciousness  rises  to  that  point  in  the  globe  where  its  mental 
deposits  during  life  have  been  of  sufficient  amount  to  sustain  it. 
It  can  no  longer  select  its  material  vehicle  by  the  self-conscious 
will,  for  this  has  become  paralyzed  by  the  disintegration  of  the 
lower  Principles,  through  which  it  had  been  accustomed  to  func- 
tion, and  through  its  not  yet  having  learned  to  function  on  spir- 
itual planes  and  in  spiritual  vehicles.  If,  now,  the  devachanic 
accretions  preponderate,  it  floats  to  this  zone,  and  remains  until  it 
has  received  its  reward  for,  or  rather  exhausted  the  effects  of,  the 
altruistic  and  elevating  thoughts  and  aspirations  of  its  last  life. 
If  the  Kama  Loca  deposits  are  in  excess,  there  the  consciousness 
remains  until,  having  succeeded  in  separating  itself  from  these,  it 
rises  to  its  devachanic  stores;  or,  having  none  there,  it  again 
returns  to  earth  and  reincarnates,  or  slowly  fades  out  upon  this 
plane.  But  this  preponderance  of  deposits  does  not  mean 


126  A  STUDY   OF  THE  SOUL. 

simply  an  accurate  physical  or  mental  balancing  of  accounts — a 
casting  up  of  a  debtor  and  creditor  column.  If  this  were  so,  few, 
perhaps,  would  reach  Devachan.  But,  just  as  the  material  attrac- 
tion was  greatly  in  excess  during  life,  through  the  physical  or 
sensuous  connection,  so  now  the  spiritual  forces  at  the  upper  pole 
exercise  a  correspondingly  increased  influence  when  no  longer 
counterbalanced  by  the  body;  so  much  so  that  Devachan  is  the 
almost  universal  state  of  the  human  soul  after  death.  For  the 
personal  consciousness,  the  "  I  am  I,"  not  to  be  drawn  into  the 
safety  of  Devachan  means,  as  we  hinted  above,  the  most  terrible 
fate  for  it — its  utter  and  entire  extinction.  Remember,  the  poles 
of  our  globe  have  more  attributes  than  being  merely  higher  and 
lower,  or  outer  and  inner.  The  great  the  all-important  difference 
consists  in  that  the  one  is  eternal  and  everlasting,  and  the  other 
mortal  and  impermanent.  Therefore,  we  see  but  too  plainly  how 
that  soul  which  has  cultivated  none  but  grossly  material  affinities 
during  life  will  find  itself  overpoweringly  drawn  down  into  the 
abyss  of  matter  and  destruction  at  death.  This  is  the  true  and 
esoteric  meaning  of  the  scriptural  injunction  to  "  lay  up  treasures 
in  heaven."  For  the  phrase,  "Where  a  man's  treasure  is,  there 
will  his  heart  be  also,"  has  a  real  and  awful  significance  when 
read  by  the  light  of  Theosophic  teachings.  Herein  is  found  the 
explanation  and  meaning  of  that  mysterious  tenet  running  through 
all  religions — the  possibility  of  the  eternal  loss  of  the  soul,  which 
will  be  referred  to  later. 

It  might  be  supposed  that,  since  most  souls  live  to  a  great 
degree  upon  the  plane  of  sensuous  desires,  thereby  laying  up 
treasures  of  a  highly  undesirable  nature,  yet,  as  they  pass  almost 
without  exception  into  the  devachanic  state  after  death,  the  effects 
or  karma  of  these  evil  acts  were  thus  avoided.  Not  so.  This  is 
just  the  mistake  that  Christianity  makes  when  it  translates  its 
repentant  murderer  from  the  gallows  to  eternal  bliss,  by  means  of 
its  unphilosophical  and  unjust  vicarious  atonement.  Theosophy 
commits  no  such  blunder.  As  the  soul,  having  experienced  the 
spiritual  effects  of  the  spiritual  causes  set  up  while  in  the  body, 
or,  having  received  its  devachanic  reward,  descends  to  reincarnate 
in  another  body,  it  meets  and  carries  forward  to  the  new  account 
the  unbalanced  debt  of  evil,  in  the  shape  of  the  skandhas  of  its 
former  life.  It  is  these  which,  following  the  reincarnating  soul 
into  its  new  body,  largely  determine  the  selection  of  that  body, 


POST-MORTEM   STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  12; 

through  the  law  of  karma.  As  Madame  Blavatsky  explains,  in 
relation  to  these  skandhas,  or  karmic  results  of  evil  acts  :* 

"They  are  destroyed  as  the  working  stock  in  hand  of  the  personality;  they 
remain  as  karmic  effects  or  germs,  hanging  in  the  air  of  the  terrestrial  plane, 
ready  to  come  to  life  as  so  many  avenging  fiends,  to  attach  themselves  to  the 
new  personality  of  tlie  Ego  when  it  reincarnates." 

Thus  we  see  the  perfect  justice  and  reasonableness  of  the  The- 
osophic  conception  of  these  Post-mortem  states,  as  well  as  why  we 
are  daily  and  hourly  influencing  and  determining  our  future  states, 
both  in  and  out  of  our  future  bodies.  The  man  who  finds  him- 
self in  a  diseased  or  deformed  body,  or  a  member  of  a  depraved 
family,  can  not,  in  the  light  of  karma,  charge  it  to  accident,  nor 
injustice,  nor  to  carelessness  nor  indifference  on  the  part  of  some 
god,  but  must  recognize  it  as  a  result  of  these  karmic  "  fiends" — 
these  unexhausted  causes  created  during  his  past  incarnation — 
which,  having  been  set  up  there,  have  followed  him  into  the  only 
plane  where  they  could  be  satisfied — that  of  physical  life. 

After  death  has  separated  the  soul  from  its  body,  what  is  it  that 
enters  Kama  Loca,  and  what  that  enters  Devachan?  Man  is  con- 
stituted, as  we  have  seen  in  its  proper  connection,  of  seven  Prin- 
ciples, or  vehicles  for  consciousness.  To  briefly  recapitulate,  these 
are:  The  physical  body;  its  vitality,  or  Prana;  the  astral  model 
of  the  physical  body,  or  Linga  Sharira;  the  passional  center,  or 
animal  soul,  common  to  man  and  the  animals,  called  Kama;  the 
human  soul,  or  Manas,  having  a  higher  and  a  lower  aspect;  the 
spiritual  soul,  or  Buddhi;  and  Atma,  or  pure  spirit.  The  three 
latter  form  the  upper  spiritual  Triad,  or  the  true  reincarnating 
Ego.  The  remaining  four  form  that  which  is  known  as  the  lower, 
or  material,  Quaternary.  At  death  the  body  returns  to  the  mat- 
ter, or  "  earth,"  from  whence  it  came;  the  vitality,  or  Prana,  rebe- 
comes  one  with  its  source — thejiva,  or  One  Life ;  the  Astral  Body, 
or  Linga  Sharira,  slowly  fades  out,  also  returning  to  its  source. 
The  soul  abandons  these  three  Principles  at  once  and  forever  when 
the  body  dies.  But  the  consciousness  still  clings  to  Kama — is  still, 
though  deprived  of  kamic  organs,  kama-manasic,  by  reason  of  its 
long  association  with  the  body.  There  are  thus,  immediately  after 
death,  five  Principles,  including  the  dual  aspects  of  Manas,  in 
Kama  Loca,  where  at  once  a  process  of  separation  begins.  The 

*Key  to  Theosophy. 


128  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

clamor  of  the  senses  is  stilled;  and,  no  new  impetus  being  given 
to  Kama,  its  vibrations  cease  gradually  to  command  the  Ego's 
attention,  and  the  latter  becomes  slowly  separated  or  freed  from 
the  influence  of  this  vehicle.  Until  this  separation  is  accom- 
plished, Devachan  is  impossible.  When  it  is,  which  may  take 
from  a  few  moments  to  many  years,  according  as  the  relative 
strength  of  the  material  or  the  spiritual  in  the  soul,  the  higher 
Triad,  with  all  of  the  late  personality  worthy  of  immortality,  enters 
Devachan  as  a  Triad,  leaving  two  more  Principles,  or  vehicles  to 
become  skandhas  in  Kama  Loca.  Thus  we  see  man  has  become 
from  a  septenary  on  earth,  a  Triad  in  Devachan;  to  rebecome  a 
septenary  upon  his  next  reincarnation.  In  other  words,  the  true 
man  puts  on  a  new  body,  just  as  he  does  here  a  new  suit  of  clothes, 
only  that  the  union  is  more  intimate.  It  is  as  though  one  could 
not  see  without  glasses,  nor  hear  without  a  trumpet,  etc.,  when  all 
of  these  accessories  would  become  part  of  his  necessary  clothing. 
In  a  similar  way  his  lower  Principles,  or  vehicles,  simply  relate 
him  to  matter,  clothe  him  with  a  "  coat  of  skin,"  by  means  of  which 
he  is  brought  into  sensuous  contact  with  material  things. 

The  Ego,  then,  must  remain  in  Kama  Loca  until  it  is  freed 
from  sensuous  desire,  and  fitted  for  the  quiet  bliss  of  dreaming 
Devachan.  The  actual  states  of  consciousness  immediately  after 
death  are  thus  described  by  Madame  H.  P.  Blavatsky:* 

"The  Ego  receives  always  according  to  its  deserts.  After  the  dissolution  of 
the  body,  there  commences  for  it  either  a  period  of  full,  clear  consciousness,  a 
state  of  chaotic  dreams,  or  an  utterly  dreamless  sleep  indistinguishable  from 
annihilation;  and  these  are  the  three  states  of  consciousness.  Our  physiolo- 
gists find  the  cause  of  dreams  and  visions  in  an  unconscious  preparation  for 
them  in  our  waking  hours;  why  cannot  the  same  be  admitted  for  our  Post- 
mortem dreams  ?  I  repeat  it,  death  is  sleep.  After  death  there  begins  before 
the  spiritual  eyes  of  the  soul  a  performance  according  to  a  programme  learned 
and  very  often  composed  unconsciously  by  ourselves,  the  practical  carrying 
out  of  correct  belief  or  illusions  which  have  been  created  by  ourselves.  A 
Methodist  will  be  a  Methodist,  a  Mussulman,  a  Mussulman,  of  course  just  for  a 
time — in  a  perfect  fool's  paradise  of  each  man's  creation  and  making." 

This  is  the  key-note  to  these  Post-mortem  states  as  struck  by 
a  Teacher.  We  find  no  foolish  nor  impossible  heaven  nor  hell 
described,  but  states  analogous  to  and  built  upon  our  subjective 

»Lucifer,  Jan.,  '89. 


POST-MORTEM    STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  1 29 

life  while  in  the  body.  Death  is  truly  a  sleep,  wherein  the 
dreams  are  pleasant  or  horrible  according  as  we  lay  the  founda- 
tion for  them  while  in  the  physical  form. 

But  all  Post-mortem  states,  or  even  all  subjective  life,  must  not 
be  included  with  those  which  are  analogous  to  sleep.  The  opposite 
poles  of  being  have  a  common  state  for  the  Ego — that  of  being 
awake  or  vividly  self-conscious;  only  at  the  material  pole  it  is  the 
personality  or  Kama-Manasic  consciousness  which  is  awake,  while 
at  the  spiritual  pole  it  is  the  individuality,  or  Reincarnating  Ego, 
which  is  in  this  acutely  self-conscious  condition.  To  the  con- 
sciousness at  either  extremity,  that  of  the  other  seems,  perhaps, 
like  sleep  as  compared  with  its  own.  But  the  intervening  Kama 
Loca  and  devachanic  conditions  are  a  true  sleep,  as  compared  to 
both  poles ;  only  in  Kama  Loca  the  dreams  will  be  "  chaotic," 
while  in  Devachan  they  will  be  as  bright  and  as  beautiful  as  the 
imagination  of  the  Ego  is  able  to  construct  out  of  the  material 
stored  up  from  the  altruistic  efforts,  the  spiritual  aspirations,  and 
the  highest  idealizations  of  its  past  life. 

Passing,  now,  to  the  separate  consideration  of  the  consciousness 
in  Devachan,  it  is  evident  that,  being  entirely  subjective  and  self- 
created,  in  a  manner  exactly  corresponding  to  dreaming  creations 
while  in  the  body,  no  two  devachanic  experiences  can  be  the 
same  The  distinction  of  individuality  remains  as  sharply  drawn 
as  while  in  the  body.  On  attaining  consciousness  in  Devachan 
we  will  take  up  our  old  life  in  our  dream,  without  the  faintest  sus- 
picion that  its  continuity  has  been  interrupted.  But  how  changed  ! 
Pain,  suffering,  hardships,  and  sorrow  will  all  have  disappeared,  as 
before  a  magician's  wand.  Again,  as  pointed  out  by  Madame 
Blavatsky  :* 

"  Devachan  is  an  absolute  oblivion  of  all  that  gave  pain  or  sorrow  in  the 
past  incarnation,  and  even  oblivion  of  the  fact  that  such  things  as  pain  or 
sorrow  exist  at  all.  The  Devachanee  lives  its  intermediate  cycle  between  two 
incarnations,  surrounded  by  everything  it  had  aspired  to  in  vain,  and  in  the 
companionship  of  every  one  it  loved  on  earth.  It  has  reached  the  fulfillment 
of  all  its  soul  yearnings.  And  thus  it  lives  throughout  long  centuries  an 
existence  of  unalloyed  happiness  which  is  the  reward  for  its  sufferings  in  earth- 
life.  In  short,  it  bathes  in  a  sea  of  uninterrupted  felicity,  spanned  only  by 
events  of  still  greater  felicity  in  degree. 


*Loc.  Cit. 


130  A  STUDY   OF  THE   SOUL. 

11  It  is  with  those  whom  it  has  lost  in  the  material  form,  and  far,  far  nearer 
to  them  now  than  when  they  were  alive.  And  it  is  not  only  in  the  fancy  of 
the  Devachanee  as  some  may  imagine,  but  in  reality.  For  pure,  divine  love 
is  not  merely  the  blossom  of  a  human  heart,  but  has  its  roots  in  eternity. 
Spiritual,  holy  love  is  immortal,  and  Karma  brings  sooner  or  later  all  those 
who  loved  each  other  with  such  a  spiritual  affection  to  incarnate  once  more  in 
the  same  family  group.  Again  we  say,  that  love  beyond  the  grave,  illusion 
though  you  might  call  it,  has  a  magic  and  divine  potency  which  reacts  on  the 
living.  A  mother's  Kgo  filled  with  love  for  the  imaginary  children  it  sees  near 
itself,  living  a  life  of  happiness,  as  real  to  it  as  when  on  earth — that  love  will 
always  be  felt  by  the  children  of  the  flesh.  It  will  manifest  in  their  dreams, 
and  often  in  various  events — in  providential  protections  and  escapes,  for  love 
is  a  strong  shield,  and  is  not  limited  by  space  or  time." 

The  devachanic  consciousness  is  also  most  lucidly  explained  by 
another  MASTER*  of  Eastern  Wisdom.  He  writes: 

"  Devachan  is  not,  cannot  be,  monotonous;  for  this  would  be  contrary  to  all 
analogies  and  antagonistic  to  the  laws  and  effects  under  which  results  are  pro- 
portionate to  antecedent  energies. 

"There  are  two  fields  of  causal  manifestations:  the  objective  and  the  sub- 
jective. The  grosser  energies  find  their  outcome  in  the  new  personality  of 
each  birth  in  the  cycle  of  evoluting  individuality.  The  moral  and  spiritual 
activities  find  their  sphere  of  effects  in  Devachan. 

"The  dream  of  Devachan  lasts  until  Karma  is  satisfied  in  that  direction, 
until  the  ripple  of  force  reaches  the  edge  of  its  cyclic  basin  and  the  being 
moves  into  the  next  area  of  causes. 

"That  particular  one  moment  which  will  be  most  intense  and  uppermost 
in  the  thoughts  of  the  dying  brain  at  the  moment  of  dissolution  will  regulate 
all  subsequent  moments.  The  moment  thus  selected  becomes  the  key-note 
of  the  whole  harmony,  around  which  cluster  in  endless  variety  all  the  aspira- 
tions and  desires  which  in  connection  with  that  moment  had  ever  crossed  the 
dreamer's  brain  during  his  lifetime,  without  being  realized  on  earth, — the 
theme  modelling  itself  on,  and  taking  shape  from,  that  group  of  desires  which 
was  most  intense  during  life. 

"  In  Devachan  there  is  no  cognizance  of  time,  of  which  the  Devachanee 
loses  all  sense. 

"  (To  realize  the  bliss  of  Devachan  or  the  woea  of  Avitchi  you  have  to 
assimilate  them  as  we  do.) 

41  The  a  priori  ideas  of  space  and  time  do  not  control  his  perceptions;  for  he 

*See  Notes  on  Devachan  by  "  X,"  in  THE  PATH,  Vol.  V,  pp.  40  and  80,  et  ug. 


POST-MORTEM   STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  13! 

absolutely  creates  and  annihilates  them  at  the  same  time.  Physical  existence 
has  its  cumulative  intensity  from  infancy  to  prime,  and  its  diminishing  energy 
to  dotage  and  death;  so  the  dream-life  of  Devachan  is  lived  correspondentially. 
Nature  cheats  no  more  the  devachanee  than  she  does  the  living  physical  man. 
Nature  provides  for  him  far  more  than  real  bliss  and  happiness  there  than  she 
does  here>  where  all  the  conditions  of  evil  and  chance  are  against  him. 

"To  call  the  Devachan  existence  a  '  dream'  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of 
a  conventional  term,  is  to  renounce  forever  the  knowledge  of  the  esoteric 
doctrine,  the  sole  custodian  of  truth.  As  in  actual  earth  life,  so  there  is  for 
the  Ego  in  Devachan  the  first  flutter  of  psychic  life,  the  attainment  of  prime, 
the  gradual  exhaustion  of  force  passing  into  semi-consciousness  and  lethargy, 
total  oblivion,  and — not  death,  but  birth,  birth  into  another  personality,  and 
the  resumption  of  action  which  daily  begets  new  congeries  of  causes  that  must 
be  worked  out  in  another  term  of  Devachan  and  still  another  physical  birth 
as  a  new  personality.  What  the  lives  in  Devachan  and  upon  earth  shall  be 
respectively  in  each  instance  is  determined  by  Karma,  and  this  weary  round 
of  birth  must  be  ever  and  ever  run  through  until  the  being  reaches  the  end  of 
the  seventh  Round,  or  attains  in  the  interim  the  wisdom  of  an  Arhat,  or 
that  of  a  Buddha,  and  thus  gets  relieved  for  a  round  or  two,  having  learned 
how  to  burst  through  the  vicious  circle  and  to  pass  into  Para-nirvana. 

"A  colorless,  flavorless  personality  has  a  colorless,  feeble  devachanic  state. 

"There  is  a  change  of  occupation,  a  continual  change  in  Devachan,  just  as 
much  and  far  more  than  there  is  in  the  life  of  any  man  or  woman  who  happens 
to  follow  in  his  or  her  whole  life  one  sole  occupation,  whatever  it  may  be, 
with  this  difference,  that  to  the  Devachanee  this  spiritual  occupation  is  always 
pleasant  and  fills  his  life  with  rapture.  Life  in  Devachan  is  the  function  of 
the  aspirations  of  earth  life;  not  the  indefinite  prolongation  of  that  'single 
instant,'  but  its  infinite  developments,  the  various  incidents  and  events  based 
upon  and  outflowing  from  that  one  '  single  moment*  or  moments.  The  dreams 
of  the  objective  become  the  realities  of  the  subjective  existence.  Two  sympa- 
thetic souls  will  each  work  out  its  own  devachanic  sensations,  making  the 
other  a  sharer  in  its  subjective  bliss,  yet  each  is  dissociated  from  the  other  as 
regards  actual  mutual  intercourse;  for  what  companionship  could  there  be 
between  subjective  entities  which  are  not  even  as  material  as  that  ethereal 
body — the  Mayavi  Rupa  ? 

"The  stay  in  Devachan  is  proportionate  to  the  unexhausted  psychic  impulse 
originating  in  earth  life.  Those  whose  attractions  were  preponderatingly 
material  will  sooner  be  drawn  back  into  rebirth  by  the  force  of  Tanha. 
[Tanha — desire  for  sensuous  existence.  J.  A.  A.] 

"The  reward  provided  by  nature  for  men  who  are  benevolent  in  a  large, 


I32  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

systematic  way,  and  who  have  not  focused  their  affections  on  an  individual  or 
specialty,  is  that  if  pure  they  pass  the  quicker  for  that  thro'  the  Kama  and 
Rupa  locas  into  the  higher  sphere  of  Tribuvana,  since  it  is  one  where  the  formu- 
lation of  abstract  ideas  and  the  consideration  of  general  principles  fill  the 
thought  of  its  occupant. 

"  Certainly,  the  new  Ego,  once  that  it  is  reborn  (in  Devachan),  retains  for  a 
certain  time — proportionate  to  its  earth  life — a  complete  recollection  of  his 
life  on  earth,  but  it  can  never  visit  the  earth  from  Devachan  except  in 
reincarnation . 

"  'Who  goes  to  Devachan?'  The  personal  Ego,  of  course;  but  beatified, 
purified,  holy.  Every  Ego — the  combination  of  the  6th  and  yth  Principles — 
which  after  the  period  of  unconscious  gestation  is  reborn  into  the  Devachan, 
is  of  necessity  as  innocent  and  pure  as  a  new-born  babe.  The  fact  of  his  being 
reborn  at  all  shows  the  preponderance  of  good  over  evil  in  his  old  personality. 
And  while  the  Karma  [of  Evil]  steps  aside  for  the  time  being  to  follow  him 
in  his  future  earth  reincarnation,  he  brings  along  with  him  but  the  Karma  of 
his  good  deeds,  words,  and  thoughts  into  this  Devachan.  '  Bad '  is  a  relative 
term  for  us — as  you  were  told  more  than  once  before — and  the  Law  of  Retribu- 
tion is  the  only  law  that  never  errs.  Hence  all  those  who  have  not  slipped 
down  into  the  mire  of  unredeemable  sin  and  bestiality  go  to  the  Devachan. 
They  will  have  to  pay  for  their  sins,  voluntary  and  involuntary,  later  on. 
Meanwhile  they  are  rewarded — receive  the  effects  of  the  causes  produced  by 
them. 

"  Of  course,  it  is  a  state,  so  to  say,  of  intense  selfishness,  during  which  an  Ego 
reaps  the  reward  of  his  unselfishness  on  earth.  He  is  completely  engrossed 
in  the  bliss  of  all  his  personal  earthly  affections,  preferences,  and  thoughts,  and 
gathers  in  the  fruit  of  his  meritorious  actions.  No  pain,  no  grief,  nor  even 
the  shadow  of  a  sorrow,  comes  to  darken  the  bright  horizon  of  his  unalloyed 
happiness:  for  it  is  a  state  of  perpetual c  MayaS  Since  the  conscious  perception 
of  one's  personality  on  Earth  is  but  an  evanescent  dream,  that  sense  will  be 
equally  that  of  a  dream  in  the  Devachan — only  a  hundred-fold  intensified;  so 
much  so,  indeed,  that  the  happy  Ego  is  unable  to  see  through  the  veil  of  evils, 
sorrows,  and  woes  to  which  those  it  loved  on  earth  may  be  subjected.  It  lives 
in  that  sweet  dream  with  its  loved — whether  gone  before  or  yet  remaining  on 
earth;  it  has  them  near  itself,  as  happy,  as  blissful,  and  as  innocent  as  the  dis- 
embodied dreamer  himself;  and  yet,  apart  from  rare  visions,  the  denizens  of 
our  gross  planet  feel  it  not.  It  is  in  this — during  such  a  condition  of  com- 
plete Maya — that  the  souls  or  Astral  Egos  of  pure,  loving  sensitives,  laboring 
under  the  same  delusion,  think  their  loved  ones  come  down  to  them  on  earth, 
while  it  is  their  own  spirits  that  are  raised  towards  those  in  the  Devachan, 


POST-MORTEM   STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  1 33 

"Yes,  there  are  great  varieties  in  the  Devachan  states,  and  all  find  their 
appropriate  place.  As  many  varieties  of  bliss  as  on  Earth  there  are  of  per- 
ception and  of  capability  to  appreciate  such  reward.  It  is  an  ideal  paradise; 
in  each  case  of  the  Ego's  own  making,  and  by  him  filled  with  the  scenery, 
crowded  with  the  incidents,  and  thronged  with  the  people  he  wonld  expect  to 
find  in  such  a  sphere  of  compensative  bliss.  And  it  is  that  variety  which 
guides  the  temporary  personal  Ego  into  the  current  which  will  lead  him  to  be 
reborn  in  a  lower  or  higher  condition  in  the  next  world  of  causes.  Everything 
is  so  harmoniously  arranged  in  nature — especially  in  the  subjective  world — 
that  no  mistake  can  be  ever  committed  by  the  Tathagatos  who  guide  the 
impulses. 

"Devachan  is  a  'spiritual  condition'  only  as  contrasted  with  our  own 
grossly  material  condition;  and,  as  already  stated,  it  is  such  degrees  of  spirit- 
uality that  constitute  and  determine  the  great  varieties  of  conditions  within 
the  limits  of  Devachan.  A  mother  from  a  savage  tribe  is  not  less  happy  than 
a  mother  from  a  royal  palace,  with  her  lost  child  in  her  arms;  and  altho',  as 
actual  Egos,  children  prematurely  dying  before  the  perfection  of  their  septen- 
ary entity  do  not  find  their  way  to  Devachan,  yet  all  the  same,  the  mother's 
loving  fancy  finds  her  children  there  without  one  missing  that  her  heart  yearns 
for.  Say  it  is  but  a  dream;  but,  after  all,  what  is  objective  life  itself  but  a  pan- 
orama of  vivid  unrealities?  The  pleasure  realized  by  a  red  Indian  in  his 
4  happy  hunting  grounds'  in  that  land  of  dreams  is  not  less  intense  than  the 
ecstacy  felt  by  a  connoisseur  who  passes  aeons  in  the  rapt  delight  of  listening  to 
divine  symphonies  by  imaginary  angelic  choirs  and  orchestras.  As  it  is  no  fault 
of  the  former  if  born  a  '  savage'  with  an  instinct  to  kill — tho'  it  caused  the  death 
of  many  an  innocent  animal — why,  if  with  it  all  he  was  a  loving  father,  son, 
husband — why  should  he  not  also  enjoy  his  share  of  reward?  The  case  would 
be  quite  different  if  the  same  cruel  acts  had  been  done  by  an  educated  and 
civilized  person,  from  a  mere  love  of  sport.  The  savage  in  being  reborn  would 
simply  take  a  low  place  in  the  scale,  by  reason  of  his  imperfect  moral  devel- 
opment; while  the  Karma  of  the  other  would  be  tainted  with  moral  delin- 
quency. 

"Remember,  that  we  ourselves  create  our  Devachan,  as  also  our  Avitchi, 
while  yet  on  earth,  and  mostly  during  the  latter  days  and  even  moments  of 
our  intellectual  sentient  lives.  That  feeling  which  is  strongest  in  us  at  that 
supreme  hour,  when,  as  in  a  dream,  the  events  of  a  long  life  to  their  minutest 
details  are  marshalled  in  the  greatest  order  in  a  few  seconds  in  our  vision,* 
that  feeling  will  become  the  fashioner  of  our  bliss  or  woe,  the  life-principle  of 

*That  vision  takes  place  when  a  person  is  already  proclaimed  dead.  The  brain  is  the  L^t 
organ  that  dies. 


134  A  STUDY  OF   THE  SOUL. 

our  future  existence.  In  the  latter  we  have  no  substantial  being,  but  only  a 
present  and  momentary  existence,  whose  duration  has  no  bearing  upon,  no 
effect  nor  relation  to,  its  being,  which,  as  every  other  effect  of  a  transitory 
cause,  will  be  as  fleeting,  and  in  its  turn  will  vanish  and  cease  to  be.  The 
real,  full  remembrance  of  our  lives  will  come,  but  at  the  end  of  the  minor 
cycle — not  before 

"  Unless  a  man  loves  well,  or  hates  well,  he  need  not  trouble  himself  about 
Devachan;  he  will  be  neither  in  Devachan  nor  Avitchi.  'Nature  spews  the 
lukewarm  out  of  her  mouth'  means  only  that  she  annihilates  their  personal 
Bgos  (not  the  Shells,  nor  yet  the  6th  Principle)  in  the  Kama  Loca  and  the 
Devachan.  This  does  not  prevent  them  from  being  immediately  reborn,  and 
if  their  lives  were  not  very,  very  bad,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  eternal  Monad 
should  not  find  the  page  of  that  life  intact  in  the  Book  of  Life." 

In  Kama  Loca  there  is  no  entity  after  the  separation  of  the 
three  higher  Principles,  as  described,  has  taken  place.  Ordinarily, 
the  interval  required  for  this  separation  is  of  brief  duration,  as 
compared  with  the  following  period  in  Devachan.  But  we  can 
easily  see  that  a  soul  which  has  lived  entirely  on  the  material 
plane,  which  has  created  strong  affinities  for  the  grossly  physical 
pleasures  of  life,  will  find  itself  unable  to  enter  the  devachanic 
sleep  until  these  have  loosened  their  hold.  When  this  separation 
is  completed,  however,  this  which  was  an  entity  becomes  a  non- 
entity. As  the  Key  says: 

"Then  the  kamarupic  phantom,  remaining  bereft  of  its  informing,  thinking 
principle,  the  higher  Manas,  and  the  lower  aspect  of  the  latter,  the  animal 
intelligence,  no  longer  receiving  light  from  the  higher  mind,  and  no  longer 
having  a  physical  brain  to  work  through,  collapses.  It  falls  into  the  state  of 
a  frog  when  certain  portions  of  its  brain  are  taken  out  by  the  vivisector.  It 
can  think  no  more,  even  on  the  lowest  animal  plane." 

It  is  in  a  condition  similar  to  a  permanently  hypnotized  man. 
The  intelligence  which  animated  it  is  withdrawn.  It  is  a  mere 
bundle  of  desires  and  passions,  slowly  disintegrating,  or  changing 
into  "  skandhas,"  or  effects,  waiting  to  attach  themselves  to  the 
new  personality  which  the  Higher  Ego  enters  upon  reincarnating. 
If  it  float,  or  is  attracted  into  the  aura  of  a  "  medium,"  it  may  be 
galvanized  into  apparent  consciousness;  but  this  is  only  apparent. 
Just  as  a  hypnotized  person  will  obey  the  will  and  reflect  the 
thoughts  of  the  hypnotizer,  being  at  the  same  time  utterly  uncon- 
scious of  that  which  he  is  doing,  so  may  these  "  shells,"  as  they 
are  termed,  reflect  information  or  opinions  from  the  mind  of  the 
medium,  or  of  any  person  present. 


POST-MORTEM   STATES    OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  135 

Still  there  is  a  Kama  Loca  entity,  proper,  which  is  the  "  lost 
soul,"  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  As  we  have  seen,  there 
may  be  those  who  have  evolved  no  possibilities  of  a  continued  life 
in  Devachan,  with  its  succeeding  reincarnation.  Cultivating  none 
but  Kama  Loca  affinities  during  physical  life,  the  soul  finds  itself 
irresistibly  drawn  downwards  to  this  zone  after  death,  leaving 
nothing  to  enter  Devachan.  Its  consciousness,  therefore,  remains 
in  Kama  Loca,  an  actual,  though  evil,  entity.  Such  a  soul  par- 
takes so  closely  of  the  earth  condition  that  it  is  semi-  if  not  wholly, 
conscious  of  itself  and  of  its  state,  especially  when  it  is  able  to 
approximate  still  more  closely  the  earth  consciousness  through 
the  aura  of  a  medium.  This  being  realizes  that  he  has  nothing 
before  him  but  the  certainty  of  eternal  extinction,  and  clings  to 
his  Kama  Loca  life  with  all  the  tenacity  of  a  drowning  man  to 
the  handful  of  earth  he  has  grasped  in  slipping  down  the  banks 
of  the  fatal  stream.  He  it  is  who  haunts  "  circles,"  and  renews 
his  fading  stock  of  vitality  from  the  life  forces  of  his  admiring  and 
unconscious  victims.  It  is  he  who  materializes;  who  preaches 
mock  sentimental  morality,  while  compelling  his  medium  to  prac- 
tice exactly  the  reverse.  Being  allied  to  evil  while  in  the  body, 
he  remains  an  evil  force  without  the  body  until  dissolution  over- 
takes him  for  the  second  and  last  time. 

For  immortality  to  be  assured,  the  attraction  from  the  spiritual 
pole  of  our  being  must  not  be  severed,  which  will  be  the  case  if  our 
consciousness  does  not  rise  above  the  fatal  equatorial  line  of  mate- 
riaKty  when  freed  from  the  body  by  death.  As  no  soul  could 
reincarnate  if  there  were  not  in  its  consciousness  enough  physical 
attraction,  or  longing  for  sensuous  life,  to  draw  it  again  within 
material  limits  when  its  spiritual  tendencies  become  exhausted  in 
Devachan,  so  neither  can  it  rise  to  the  permanent  and  immortal 
pole  of  its  existence  if  there  is  not  in  its  consciousness  enough  of 
spiritual  attraction  to  take  it  above  the  material  planes  of  being 
when  its  body  is  removed  by  death.  There  is,  and  can  be,  no 
"forgiveness"  nor  "vicarious  atonement"  in  the  matter;  it  is  a  sim- 
ple case  of  cause  and  effect.  Such  a  "  lost  soul"  has  surrendered 
itself  entirely  to  the  play  of  material  law,  and  it  can  but  submit  to 
the  destruction  and  disintegration  which  await  all  that  find  expres- 
sion below  the  line  of  permanency  and  stability. 

Remember,  that  analogy  holds  on  all  planes;  that  just  as  our 
personal  consciousness  vibrates  during  one  physical  life  above 


136  A  STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

and  below  the  line  dividing  the  material  from  the  spiritual,  so  in 
its  greater  cycle  the  true  man,  or  Reincarnating  Ego,  is  also 
vibrating  between  these  poles — each  incarnation  being  but  a 
single  vibration.  Now  a  personality  drags  it  towards  the  mate- 
rial pole,  now  another  elevates  it  far  in  the  direction  of  the  spir- 
itual. And  just  as  the  personality  has  in  its  vibrations  but  one  end 
in  view — the  union  with  its  Higher  Ego — so  this  Higher  Ego  has 
in  its  reincarnating  vibrations  the  sole  object  of  uniting  with  its 
Higher  Self,  or  with  the  Divine  Consciousness  of  Atma-Buddhi. 
This  union  of  the  Higher  Ego  with  its  Higher  Self  is  one  aspect 
of  Nirvana,  and  this  is  why  an  Adept  attains  Nirvana  during  life. 
His  personal  consciousness  has  united  itself  to  his  Higher  Ego; 
and  this  Higher  Ego,  united  to  the  Higher  Self,  enables  him  to 
thus  experience  temporarily  Nirvanic  consciousness. 

Of  Nirvana,  we  of  undeveloped  spiritual  perception  can  of 
necessity  know  but  very  little.  It  is  only  to  correct  popular  mis- 
conception that  it  is  referred  to  here  at  all.  Western  Sanscrit  schol- 
ars have  defined  it  as  "  annihilation  of  consciousness."  This  is 
because  Western  thought  has  become  so  infected  with  material- 
ism that  it  recognizes  only  sensuous  or  personal  consciousness. 
This  is  annihilated;  and  in  its  annihilation  we  find  supreme 
happiness,  for  it  enables  us  to  attain  to  the  immortality  of  true 
spiritual  consciousness. 

In  the  non-recognition  of  spiritual  consciousness,  or  conscious- 
ness unlimited  by  the  illusions  of  matter,  lies  the  source  of  the 
Western  misapprehension  of  the  term  "  Nirvana."  As  the  human 
consciousness  rises  more  and  more  toward  the  spiritual  pole  of  its 
being,  it  becomes,  part  passu,  less  limited  by  matter,  with  its 
darkness  and  grossness,  and  finds  its  area  of  perception  contin- 
uously widening,  until,  upon  reaching  Nirvana,  it  has  become  one 
with  the  Whole.  It  has  not,  by  any  means,  lost  its  individuality, 
but  its  consciousness  has  become  so  marvelously  widened  that  it 
embraces  the  whole  of  manifested  nature.  If  this  glorious 
enlargement  of  perception  and  consciousness,  until  nature  has  no 
further  secrets  hidden  from  our  enlightened  senses,  can  be  called 
annihilation,  then  is  our  human  consciousness  annihilated — not 
otherwise.  There  is  an  infinity  of  difference  between  the  annihil- 
ation of  our  puerile  personal  consciousness,  and  CONSCIOUS  rest 
in  Omniscience. 

All  these  states — Nirvana,  Kama  Loca,  and  Devachan — have 


POST-MORTEM   STATES   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS.  137 

no  hard  and  fast  lines  which  separate  them  from  each  other.  On 
the  contrary,  each  is  subdivided  into  an  infinity  of  minor  planes, 
the  upper  of  which  pass  by  inappreciable  gradations  into  the  next 
succeeding  ones.  Therefore,  Devachan  in  nowise  resembles  the 
Christian's  heaven  in  its  dreary  sameness,  nor  does  Kama  Loca 
plunge  all  into  the  one  pit  of  flaming  brimstone.  In  like  manner, 
Nirvana,  while  interchaining  its  lower  planes  with  the  upper  of 
Devachan,  passes  from  thence  through  such  an  innumerable  suc- 
cession of  higher  zones  that  we  find  a  variety  of  definitions  of  it 
given,  and  all  correct  from  the  point  of  view  taken.  Thus,  in  the 
Secret  Doctrine  and  other  writings  of  Madame  Blavatsky,  we  find 
Nirvana  spoken  of  as  a  synonym  for  the  laya  state,  or  "  that  of 
the  dissociation  of  all  substances  merged  after  a  life  cycle  into 
their  original  condition  of  latency."  Again,  it  is  stated  that  as 
Devachan  is  a  state  of  rest  between  two  lives,  in  like  manner  Nir- 
vana is  a  state  of  rest  intervening  between  two  world  chains. 
As  this  would  imply  the  dissociation  of  matter,  it  would  agree 
with  the  preceding  definition,  while  as  each  world  chain  includes 
almost  an  infinity  of  conscious  progress,  so  the  Nirvana  preceding 
and  following  any  one  of  them  would  differ  widely  in  its  degree 
of  consciousness,  while  still  answering  to  the  definition. 

In  another  reference  it  is  stated  that  Buddhists  teach  that  only 
11  two  things  are  objectively  eternal — Nirvana  and  Akasa,"  which 
again  throws  a  side  light,  so  to  speak,  upon  this  state.  Farther 
on,  we  are  told  that  a  Nirvanee  can  not  return  during  the  man- 
vantara  to  which  he  belongs,  which,  as  his  consciousness  has  become 
dissociated  from  matter  as  we  know  it,  again  agrees  with  the  first 
definition.  Again,  in  the  "  Voice  of  the  Silence"  we  are  told 
that  Nirvana — its  lower  planes,  no  doubt,  being  meant — is  a  plane 
of  exalted  spiritual  selfishness,  if  struggled  for  and  obtained  while 
the  great  mass  of  one's  fellow-men  are  still  suffering  in  the  bonds 
of  matter.  Thus,  it  is  taught  in  India  that  Buddha  and  several  of 
his  Arhats  refused  to  enter  Nirvana,  after  having  won  the  right  to 
it;  but  out  of  their  great  compassion  for  mankind  remain  as  Nir- 
manakayas  in  order  to  help  its  upward  progress. 

Returning  to  the  question  of  annihilation  in  Nirvana,  Madame 
Blavatsky,  in  the  Secret  Doctrine,  says: 

"  To  see  in  Nirvana  annihilation  amounts  to  saying  of  a  man  plunged  in 
sound,  dreamless  sleep — one  that  leaves  no  impression  on  the  physical  memory 
and  brain,  because  the  sleeper's  Higher  Self  is  in  its  original  state  of  Absolute 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

Consciousness  during  these  hours— that  he,  too,  is  annihilated.  The  latter 
simile  answers  to  only  one  side  of  the  question — the  most  material;  since  reab- 
sorption  is  by  no  means  such  a  dreamless  sleep,  but,  on  the  contrary,  absolute 
existence,  an  unconditioned  unity,  or  a  state  to  describe  which  human  lan- 
guage is  absolutely  and  hopelessly  inadequate.  Nor  is  the  individuality,  nor 
even  the  essence  of  the  personality,  if  any  be  left  behind,  lost  because  reab- 
sorbed.  For  however  limitless  from  a  human  standpoint  the  paranirvanic 
state,  it  has  yet  a  limit  in  eternity.  Once  reached,  the  same  monad  will  re- 
emerge  therefrom,  as  a  still  higher  being,  on  a  far  higher  plane,  to  recommence 
its  cycle  of  perfected  activity.  The  human  mind  cannot  in  its  present  stage 
of  development  transcend,  scarcely  reach,  this  plane  of  thought.  It  totters 
here  on  the  brink  of  incomprehensible  absoluteness  and  eternity." 

In  conclusion,  it  will  become  apparent  from  this  portion  of  bur 
study  that  we  create  the  conditions  which  control  our  Post-mortem 
states  while  we  are  yet  within  the  physical  body;  that  life  in  and 
out  of  the  body  pursues  its  eternal  course  in  obedience  to  the 
absolute  law  of  cause  and  effect,  to  which  it  forms  no  exception ; 
and  that  therefore  man  can  not  enter  upon  a  wiser  course  of  study 
than  that  which  relates  to  his  own  nature,  origin  and  destiny. 
The  object  of  our  most  strenuous  exertions  ought  to  be  to  transfer 
our  consciousness  from  the  impermanent  to  the  permanent;  from 
the  mortal  to  the  immortal.  So  long  as  our  personal  conscious- 
ness is  limited  to  sensuous  planes,  so  long  must  the  subjective 
cycles  of  our  existence  be  passed  in  an  unconscious,  sleep-like 
condition,  with  the  possibility  of  perishing  at  any  time  by  being 
drawn  permanently  within  the  attraction  of  matter.  Or  it  might 
be  caught  by  some  cataclysmic,  physical  change  in  one  of  these 
unconscious  subjective  states,  and  eons  of  ages  elapse  before 
another  opportunity  be  afforded  for  such  an  undeveloped  Ego  to 
again  take  up  the  evolution  of  its  consciousness.  Suppose  our 
world  went  into  Pralaya  before  certain  souls  had  attained  to  true, 
or  spiritual  self-consciousness.  During  this  Pralaya  there  would 
be  an  universal  Nirvana  for  the  whole  of  humanity,  owing  to  the 
dissociation  of  matter — a  period  of  world  rest,  analogous  to  the 
night's  rest  between  days,  or  the  devachanic  between  lives.  But 
such  undeveloped  souls  would  have  to  enter  Nirvana  as  they  now 
do  Devachan,  unconscious,  except  for  this  false,  sleep-like  con- 
sciousness, which  must  soon  exhaust  its  material,  even  if  it  can 
utilize  it  here  at  all ;  and  then  what  ?  There  is  no  more  an  earth 
fitted  for  them  to  continue  their  efforts  awaiting  the  termination 


POST-MORTEM  STATES   OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.  139 

of  the  devachanic  sleep,  and  they  must  remain  unconscious  during 
the  whole  sweep  of  Nirvanic  duration.  Hear  the  same  Teacher  :* 
"But  there  is  a  great  difference  between  conscious  and  unconscious  being. 
The  condition  of  Paranirvana  without  Paramartha,  the  self-analyzing  con- 
sciousness, is  no  bliss,  but  simply  extinction  (for  seven  eternities).  Thus  an 
iron  ball  placed  under  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun  will  get  heated  through, 
but  will  not  appreciate  the  warmth,  while  man  will.  It  is  only  with  a  mind 
clear  and  undarkened  by  personality,  and  the  assimilation  of  the  merit  of 
manifold  existence  devoted  to  being  in  its  collectivity  (the  whole  living  and 
sentient  universe),  that  one  gets  rid  of  personal  existence,  merging  into  and 
becoming  one  with  the  Absolute,  and  continuing  in  full  possession  of  Para- 
martha. "t 

•Secret  Doctrine. 

^Paramartha— Self-consciousness,  without  which,  sat  stated,   even   Nirvana  is   simply 
extinction  while  it  endures. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HYPNOTISM  AND  THE  HUMAN  SOUL. 

rE  relation  of  the  soul  to  the  body  can,  in  certain  aspects,  be 
made  clearer  by  a  study  of  the  phenomena  of  Hypnotism 
than,  perhaps,  by  any  other  method.  Most,  if  not  all,  of  these 
can  only  be  explained  by  admitting  the  presence  and  superior  pow- 
ers of  a  center  of  consciousness,  or  soul,  which  is  actually  limited 
in  its  conscious  manifestations  by  the  sense  organs  instead  of  being 
helped  by  them. 

As  bases  from  whence  to  survey  the  field  of  hypnotic  phe- 
nomena, we  must  return  to  the  scientific  and  self-evident  postu- 
lates of  a  Unit  of  Consciousness,  and  the  Compound  Nature  of 
Man. 

By  a  unit  is  meant  a  center  of  consciousness,  which,  like  the 
mathematical  point,  excludes  from  its  conception  all  measures  of 
time  or  space.  Such  centers  are  infinite  in  number  as  potentiali- 
ties; while  as  potencies,  actively  ascending  the  spiral  of  evolution, 
they  embrace  all  degrees  from  the  center  of  consciousness  present 
and  potent  in  an  "  atom"  to  that  of  the  highest  Dhyani-Buddhi,  or 
"  god."  By  an  atom  is  not  meant  the  materialistic  definition  of 
this.  There  is  no  attempt  at  dividing  matter  until  it  is  presuma- 
bly incapable  of  further  division,  and  then  setting  up  this  hypo- 
thetical infinitesimal  "  element"  as  a  measure  of  both  the  material 
and  the  spiritual  worlds,  as  science  would  fain  do.  Holding  that 
"the  Universe  is  worked  and  guided  from  within  outwards,"* and 
that  as  we  pass  from  the  outer  material  phenomena  to  the  inner 
spiritual  noumena,  matter  becomes  not  less  and  less  in  the  size  or 
extension  of  its  particles,  but  more  and  more  ethereal  and  homo- 
geneous in  its  essence,  Theosophy  defines  an  atom  as  the  seventh 
or  guiding  principle  of  the  first  differentiation  of  the  homogeneity 
of  the  plane  above  ours  toward  the  heterogeneity  of  this  material 
plane. 

But  this  center  of  consciousness,  although  regarded  as  unity,  still 

•Secret  Doctrine,  Vol.  i,  p:  274. 


HYPNOTISM    AND   THE    HUMAN   SOUL. 

presents  that  Trinity  in  Unity  which  accompanies  all  conceptions 
of  the  One  Absolute.  As  this,  though  one  and  indivisible,  is  yet 
matter,  or  Substance;  force,  or  Motion;  and  Consciousness,  or  Idea- 
tion— so  the  unit  of  consciousness  we  term  human,  which  is  only 
that  of  an  atom  extended  by  countless  accretions  of  material  expres- 
sions and  experiences,  presents  the  triple  aspects  of  Thought, 
Will,  and  Feeling.  It  is  with  the  second  of  these,  or  Will,  that  a 
study  of  hypnotism  must  largely  deal. 

But  what  is  the  Will  ?     Locke*  declares  that: 

"  That  power  which  the  mind  has  to  order  the  consideration  of  an  idea,  or 
the  forbearing  to  consider  it,  or  to  prefer  the  motion  of  any  part  of  the  body 
or  its  rest,  and  vice  versa,  in  any  particular  instance,  is  that  which  we  call 
the  will.  It  signifies  nothing  but  the  power  to  prefer  or  choose,  and  thought 
determines  it.  Desire  and  will  are  two  distinct  acts,  and  desire  determines 
the  will." 

Lewesf  says,  by  implication,  that  the  Will  is  only  the  play  of 
molecular  forces,  under  the  unconscious  law  of  cause  and  effect. 
UphamJ  regards  the  Will  as  the  Understanding  or  Ideation  in 
action — the  active  aspect  of  Consciousness.  Bain§  holds  that  the 
Will  is  that  power  in  Consciousness  which  controls  spontaneous 
ideation,  or  ideation  which  naturally  arises  in  the  course  of  evolu- 
tion through  the  reaction  between  the  subject  and  its  environ- 
ment. 

But  see  the  prince  of  modern  Agnosticism,  Herbert  Spencer,  | 
seize  the  fiery  Fohat  of  the  Occultist  and  drag  him,  a  helpless 
captive,  at  the  wheel  of  his  materialistic  chariot.  He  writes: 

"When  automatic  actions  become  so  involved,  so  varied  in  kind,  and  sever- 
ally so  infrequent  as  no  longer  to  be  performed  with  unhesitating  precision — 
when  after  the  reception  of  one  of  the  more  complex  impressions,  the  appro- 
priate motor  changes  become  nascent,  but  are  prevented  from  passing  into 
immediate  action  by  the  antagonism  of  certain  other  nascent  motor  changes, 
appropriate  to  some  nearly  allied  impression,  there  is  constituted  a  state  of 
consciousness  which,  when  it  finally  issues  into  action,  displays  what  we  term 
volition.  We  have  a  conflict  between  two  sets  of  ideal  motor  changes  which 
severally  tend  to  become  real,  and  this  passing  of  an  ideal  motor  change  into 
a  real  one  we  distinguish  as  Will.  Thus  the  cessation  of  automatic  action  and 
the  dawn  of  volition  are  one  and  the  same  thing." 

•Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding.  JMental  Philosophy, 

t Philosophy  of  Life  and  Mind.          §Senses  and  Intellect.          |  Principles  of  Psychology 


142  A  STUDY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

In  other  words,  the  mighty,  creative  volitions  of  a  Shakespeare, 
a  Goethe,  a  Dante,  a  Bacon,  an  Edison,  a  Newton,  a  Harvey,  a 
Galileo,  a  Kant,  a  Hegel,  or  even  Spencer's  own  speculations,  are 
merely  the  fortuitous  emergence  of  one  set  of  "  nascent,"  uncon- 
scious motor  changes  slightly  in  advance  of  other  equally  uncon- 
scious ones,  which  blind  chance  has  thus  caused  to  be  lost  to  the 
world  forever !  What  a  relief  to  feel  and,  indeed,  know,  by 
"scientific  authority,"  that  the  horrible  visions  of  Dante  were  not 
deliberately  evoked,  but  were  enabled  to  "  issue  into  action"  in 
advance  of  a  milder  set — perchance  by  the  unconscious  assistance 
of  a  very  badly  digested  dinner  !  An  Occultist  would  declare 
that  the  very  ability  to  choose  even  the  subject  of  our  thoughts 
indicates  an  inherent  power  in  consciousness  which  no  fortuitous 
combination  of  material  molecules  could  ever  evoke,  though  all 
eternity  were  granted  it  in  which  to  exert  its  "blind  force." 
The  stream  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source;  the  effect  can  not 
exceed  its  cause;  and  Will,  manifesting  as  an  aspect  and  power 
of  Consciousness  on  this  material,  phenomenal  plane,  must  have 
its  origin  and  cause  in  that  larger,  Cosmic,  noumenal  plane — the 
Force-Aspect  of  the  Absolute. 

Will,  then,  from  a  Theosophic  standpoint,  is  Desire  in  action 
guided  by  Ideation,  which  latter,  again,  is  the  active  aspect  of  Con- 
sciousness, or  Consciousness  in  action.  In  man,  Will  is  one  aspect 
of  the  Center  of  Consciousness,  or  Ray,  which  takes  its  source 
directly  in  the  Absolute  or  Unknowable,  and  around  which  has 
evolved  the  feeling  of  "  I  am  I"  through  accretions  of  material 
experiences  and  expressions  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the 
chapter  upon  the  Individualization  of  the  Soul.  This  Center, 
though  a  unity  in  essence,  is  a  trinity  in  aspect;  and  because  of 
this  unity  of  base,  all  three  aspects  merge  into  one  another,  or, 
rather,  into  that  unity  of  which  they  are  the  phenomenal  expression. 
Will  selects  the  subject  of  Thought;  yet  Thought,  again,  will  so 
modify  the  Will  that  we  find  ourselves  desiring  or  willing  that 
which  before  we  compelled  ourselves  to  think  it  desirable  was 
repugnant  to  us.  Feeling,  also,  particularly  in  its  lowest  aspect 
of  emotion,  will  modify  both  Thought  and  Will,- and  be  in  turn 
itself  modified  and  transmuted  by  them. 

This  brings  us  to  the  standpoint  from  which  we  have  to  exam- 
ine hypnotism  and  all  psychic  or  mental  phenomena.  Will,  as 
one  aspect,  function,  or  power  of  Consciousness,  is  struggling  to 


HYPNOTISM   AND   THE   HUMAN    SOUL.  143 

evolve  its  potencies,  now  benumbed  and  paralyzed  by  its  primal 
"fall"  into  matter.  Thought  and  Feeling  are  likewise  in  the 
thralldom  of  the  flesh,  and  are  also  in  the  course  of  an  evolu- 
tionary effort  to  find  their  ultimate  state  of  full  and  free  expres- 
sion. To  perfect  man,  all  three  aspects  of  Consciousness  must  be 
rounded  out  or  developed  symmetrically.  In  the  natural  course 
of  evolution,  emotion  emerges  first,  and  we  see  in  the  limitations 
of  the  animal  kingdom  the  effect  of  asymmetry  in  the  evolution  of 
only  one  aspect  of  Consciousness.  As  we  have  seen  in  the  study 
of  the  Evolution  of  the  Soul,  it  is  the  incarnation  in  human-animal 
forms  of  Egos  which  have  evolved  other  aspects  of  consciousness 
in  other  worlds  which  causes  the  great  and  otherwise  inexplicable 
hiatus  in  the  evolutionary  process — the  missing  link  which  so 
puzzles  and  confounds  the  Darwinians.  Because  of  this  asym- 
metry in  evolution,  men  have  will  power  and  mental  energy 
developed  in  various  degrees  of  feebleness,  and  in  dissimilar 
directions.  This  accounts  for  the  ability  of  one  will  to  control 
another,  through  superior  development  along  some  particular  line. 
This  line  may  be  in  the  direction  of  evil  quite  as  often  as  in  that 
of  good;  and  in  the  case  of  professional  hypnotizers  it  is 
almost  always  by  the  strong  development  of  some  selfish  trait  of 
the  character  that  they  are  enabled  to  overpower  those  who  are 
purer  or  even  more  intellectual  than  they.  It  is  becoming  strong 
in  evil  which  is  the  origin  of  the  power  of  the  Black  Magician. 

Now,  to  the  Theosophist,  the  development  of  the  Will  does  not 
mean  the  empty  abstraction  which  it  conveys  to  the  scientist. 
It  is  the  becoming  potent  of  a  conscious  force,  having  its  own 
ratio  of  vibration,  and  using  a  material  vehicle  in  a  manner  exactly 
corresponding  to  force  on  the  material  plane.  Hence,  when  a 
hypnotizer  compels  another  to  obey  his  will,  he  has  subjected  him 
to  an  actual  force  conveyed  by  a  vehicle  of  matter  quite  as  cer- 
tainly as  has  the  prize-fighter  when  he  "  knocks  out"  his  helpless 
antagonist.  There  are  no  empty  abstractions  or  immaterial  agents 
for  a  student  of  Theosophy,  however  much  his  scientific  brother 
may  be  compelled  to  resort  to  them.  The  hypnotizer  has  directed 
a  part  of  his  own  "nerve  fluid"  upon  and  into  the  nervous  system 
of  his  victim,  where  it  remains  an  actual  force,  establishing  new 
and  modifying  centers  of  vibration,  which  act  in  obedience  to  the 
ideation  which  accompanied  it.  There  has  been  an  actual  trans- 
fer of  substance,  force,  and  consciousness — a  setting  up  of  new 


144  A  STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

conscious  centers  in  a  manner  exactly  analogous  to  the  new  cen- 
ters of  physical  or  molecular  vibrations  which  are  the  result  of  the 
taking  into  the  system  of  physical  remedies  or  "  medicines."  No 
scientist  nor  physician  has  ever  offered  a  rational  explanation  of 
the  methods  by  which  physical  remedies  act.  But  to  the  Theoso- 
phist  who  recognizes  vibratory  motion  as  the  universally  present 
Force- Aspect  of  the  Causeless  Cause,  the  reason  is  plain.  Such 
physical  molecules  establish  innumerable  centers  of  vibratory 
motion,  which  modify  the  vibrations  of  the  molecules  in  the  physi- 
ological or  pathological  cells  of  the  body,  according  as  their  ratios 
of  vibration  are  multiples  or  "chords"  of  these.  The  "  selective 
affinity"  of  the  physiological  empiricist  in  explaining  the  action  of 
drugs  is  but  a  formula  for  expressing  a  law  of  harmonic  vibrations 
of  whose  real  action  he  is  quite  ignorant.  In  like  manner  the  will 
of  the  hypnotizer  establishes  innumerable  force  centers  which  pre- 
vent the  consciousness  of  the  Ego  from  controlling  its  own  sense 
organs.  It  is  the  same  kind  of  process  as  that  which  takes  place 
when  the  vibratory  centers  set  up  by  chloroform  or  morphine 
interpose  actual  physical  obstacles  between  the  soul  and  its  sense 
organs  through  the  "  affinity"  between  their  vibratory  ratios  and 
those  of  the  brain  molecules. 

Of  course,  scientists  will  deny  this.  The  very  name  "  hypnot- 
ism" had  its  origin  in  this  denial.  The  Paris  Academy  had 
solemnly  "sat"  upon  the  phenomena  exhibited  by  Mesmer,  and 
had  pronounced  them  pure  delusions.  But  the  ghost  refused  to 
remain  laid  at  their  bidding,  and  so  Braid,  in  the  'thirties  of  this 
century,  undertook  to  exorcise  it  anew.  Being  honest  and  earnest, 
he  was  soon  compelled  to  admit  the  reality  of  the  phenomena  of 
Mesmerism,  but  denied  in  toto  that  the  will  of  another  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  their  production.  According  to  his  theory,  the 
phenomena  were  entirely  self-induced,  and  the  will  of  the  opera- 
tor no  further  shares  than  to  merely  "  suggest"  them  to  the  sub- 
ject, who  thereupon  hypnotized  or  mesmerized  himself. 

Braid's  assumption  was  eminently  consistent  with  materialistic 
teachings;  for  if  the  will  were  merely  a  function  of  matter  in  a 
state  of  molecular  vibration,  and  had  no  power  of  action  outside 
the  molecular  environment  which  created  it,  then  nothing  could 
pass  from  the  hypnotizer  to  the  hypnotized,  who  must,  therefore, 
be  the  sole  factor  in  the  phenomena.  Proceeding  upon  this 
assumption,  he  renamed  these  "hypnotism,"  or  the  science  of 


HYPNOTISM   AND    THE    HUMAN    SOUL.  145 

the  sleep-like  state;  from  hypnos,  sleep.  This  name  has  been 
retained  by  science,  notwithstanding  that  the  theory  of  Braid, 
upon  which  it  was  based,  has  been  entirely  disproven  by  later 
scientific  investigations — notably  those  conducted  by  members  of 
the  same  Academy  which  had  a  few  years  preceding  pronounced 
Mesmerism  an  hallucination,  or  worse.  As  there  are  psychic  and 
subjective  states  which  can  be  self-induced  without  the  interference 
of  any  exterior  will,  it  would  seem  proper  to  limit  the  name 
"hypnotism"  to  these  self-induced  states;  reserving  "Mesmerism" 
for  those  which  Mesmer,  in  modern  times  at  least,  first  demon- 
strated. However,  that  is  as  science  may  elect.  Theosophy 
retains  both  terms,  calling  those  phenomena  hypnotic  which  ema- 
nate from  or  are  originated  in  the  plane  of  selfishness  or  Kama, 
and  those  mesmeric  which  proceed  from  the  higher  or  manasic 
plane.  One  is  Black,  the  other  White,  Magic.  These  differ  in 
their  manner  of  production,  in  the  material  vehicles  which  they 
employ,  and  in  other  ways,  which  will  be  pointed  out  later.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  how  important  a  bearing  the  recognition  of  a 
Unit,  or  Center  of  human  Consciousness,  manifesting  through  the 
several  vehicles  composing  the  Septenary  nature  of  man,  has  upon 
the  proper  understanding  of  the  phenomena  of  hypnotism  and 
Mesmerism,  as  well  as  various  allied  states,  such  as  somnambu- 
lism, trance,  thought-reading,  clairvoyance,  etc.  A  non-recogni- 
tion of  the  one  Unit,  functioning  differently  in  differing  vehicles 
or  bases,  has  caused  the  most  curious  speculations  among  the 
observers  of  these  phenomena.  For  with  every  grade  of  depth  in 
the  hypnotic  process  such  new  and  unsuspected  mental  powers 
made  their  appearance  that  it  seemed  the  startling  fact  that  there 
were  several  "selves"  buried  in  the  personality,  distinct  and  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  one  we  recognize.  This  was  distinctly 
pointed  out.  In  fact,  as  the  number  of  these  apparently  separate 
persons  exhumed  out  of  one  body  by  hypnosis  seemed  practically 
unlimited,  the  deduction  fairly  followed  that  as  consciousness  could 
be  thus  split  into  a  series  of  illusionary  personalities  there  was  no 
real  conscious  entity,  or  human  soul,  but  only  states  of  conscious- 
ness depending  upon  the  particular  form  of  "  molecular  activity." 
Still,  there  were  awkward  facts  for  the  "  molecular  activity"  theory 
to  account  for.  Although  the  enlightened  and  philosophic  con- 
sciousness buried  in  a  stupid  peasant's  body  refused  to  believe 
itself  identical  with  the  peasant,  still  it  remembered  and  knew  all 


146  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

about  the  peasant's  life  and  mental  capacities,  thus  showing  a  uni- 
fying something  at  the  basis  of  consciousness.  And  this  followed 
through  all  the  separate  persons  which  were,  apparently,  exhumed 
out  of  the  one  Personality.  Each  knew  and  remembered  all  about 
those  below  it,  while  remaining  profoundly  ignorant  of  any  above. 

At  this  perplexing  stage,  Theosophy  points  out  the  solution  of 
the  mystery.  The  one  Unit  and  Center  of  Consciousness  on  the 
physical  plane  unifies  and  connotes  the  various  mental  states  per- 
taining to  matter  into  our  ordinary  consciousness;  the  waking,  will- 
ing, thinking,  feeling  "I  am  I."  But  this  same  center  of  con- 
sciousness can  and  does — under  proper  conditions — experience 
the  feeling  of  "I  am  I"  on  other  planes,  and  in  other  states  of 
matter.  Passing  to  the  lower  astral  plane  during  the  waking- 
sleeping  state,  it  recognizes  itself  as  quite  a  distinct  person  from 
the  waking  one;  capable  of  flying,  leaping,  and  many  things  then 
impossible.  If  it  could  be  now  told  that  it  was  the  waking  self, 
it  would  naturally  deny  this,  although  all  the  time  there  would  be 
the  consciousness  that  there  was  such  a  person  in  existence. 

Similarly,  on  planes  as  much  higher  than  the  waking  as  this  is 
lower,  it  would  no  doubt  be  disinclined  to  believe  itself  the  same 
limited,  stupid  person  it  is  when  its  spiritual  powers  are  so  dulled 
and  obscured  by  matter. 

Thus,  we  find  that  all  the  varied  phenomena  of  mesmeric,  hyp- 
notic, clairvoyant,  magnetic — in  short,  all  normal  or  abnormal 
mental — states  are  simply  the  one  consciousness,  functioning  now 
through  this  vehicle,  now  through  that.  In  Mesmerism  and  hyp- 
notism, as  commonly  understood,  it  is  the  will  of  another  which 
compels  the  "  I  am  I"  center  of  consciousness  to  abandon  its  ordi- 
nary physical  vehicles  and  retires  to  others.  In  self-hypnosis, 
such  as  is  induced  by  all  so-called  "  mediums"  when  they  really  get 
into  the  trance  state,  exactly  the  same  thing  occurs  under  the  force 
of  their  own  will.  And  these  self-induced  states  may  also  be 
divided  into  the  mesmeric  and  hypnotic,  according  as  the  plane 
upon  which  the  hypnotizer  habitually  lives  is  selfish  or  unselfish, 
kamic  or  Manasic. 

But  merely  to  say  that  the  Will  of  another  causes  these  hyp- 
notic conditions,  only  leaves  the  matter  where  we  found  it;  espe- 
cially if  we  regard  the  Will  as  the  immaterial  nonentity  of  mater- 
ialism. For  this  reason,  this  study  was  preceded  by  an  inquiry 
as  to  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  Will.  We  have  seen  that  in 


HYPNOTISM   AND   THE  HUMAN   SOUL.  14; 

willing  there  is  an  actual  transfer  of  substance  as  the  vehicle  of 
force,  and  both  these  under  the  guidance  of  Consciousness  in  its 
active  aspect  of  Ideation.  The  Cosmic  Will  is  known  in  Occult- 
ism as  Fohat,  and  the  human  will  is  but  one  of  its  countless  cor- 
relations. All  willing,  from  the  fohatic  to  the  human,  is  a  con- 
trolling— or  attempting  to  control  or  direct — that  primary  Force 
or  Motion,  the  Force- Aspect  of  the  Causeless  Cause.  Therefore, 
hypnotism  is  an  attempt,  by  means  of  the  will  of  the  hypnotizer, 
to  modify  or  control  that  molecular  motion  which  enables  con- 
sciousness to  manifest  in  the  organism  of  another  being. 

The  very  first  step  in  hypnotism  or  Mesmerism,  then,  is  to 
modify  the  rate  of  vibration  in  the  subject  sought  to  be  influenced 
until  it  becomes  identical  with,  or  a  ratio  of,  our  own.  As  all  life 
and  consciousness  manifest  through  motion,  it  will  be  seen  how 
necessary  that  the  vibration  in  any  two  subjects  sought  to  be 
related  in  the  intimacy  of  the  hypnotic  states  should  be  in  propor- 
tion, or  harmonious.  They  may  not  be  identical,  but  they  must 
stand  in  the  relation  of  harmonic  chords  to  each  other — unless 
the  one  completely  replaces  the  other.  This  is  the  solution  of  the 
mystery  or  the  production  of  the  hypnotic  state  by  gazing  at  bright 
objects,  by  musical  or  sudden  sounds,  etc.  In  gazing  fixedly  at  a 
bright  object,  with  the  will  directed  to  that  end,  the  point  in  the 
human  brain  which  correlates  spiritual  motion  or  intelligence  with 
the  material  plane  assumes  a  rate  or  ratio  of  vibration  identical 
with  the  object  so  gazed  at,  and  the  hypnotized  body  falls  into  a 
similar  if  not  identical  state  of  consciousness.  The  center  of  con- 
sciousness, being  thus  compelled  to  abandon  its  point  cfappui  with 
its  material  frame,  either  remains  in  a  dormant  condition  or  func- 
tions through  one  of  its  more  subtle  vehicles,  or  "  bodies."  In 
case  of  self-hypnosis,  as  in  mediums  or  trance  seers,  the  "I  am  I" 
usually  establishes  itself  upon  the  plane  of  matter  just  above  the 
physical,  known  in  Theosophy  as  the  astral,  and  is  there  subject 
to  all  the  hallucinations  and  illusions  which  attend  upon  this  con- 
dition, and  of  which  we  can  form  a  very  good  idea  by  its  close 
identity  with  the  ordinary  dreaming  state.  In  hypnosis  by 
another,  with  or  without  the  subject's  acquiescence,  the  center  of 
consciousness  is  forced  to  abandon  its  hold  upon  the  body  first  of 
all,  which  assumes  the  "  lethargic"  condition  of  Charcot  and  his 
school.  The  hypnotizer 's  will  then  takes  complete  possession,  and 
the  subject  obeys  the  slightest  suggestion,  either  spoken  or  men- 


148  A   STUDY   OF   THE    SOUL. 

tal,  relating  to  the  material  plane,  such  as  leaping,  dancing,  assum- 
ing grotesque  or  absurd  positions,  tasting  the  same  object  as  sweet 
on  one  side  of  the  tongue  and  bitter  on  the  other,  seeing  reflec- 
tions in  pasteboard  mirrors,  or  pictures  upon  blank  cards.  Rigid- 
ity, or  tetanus  of  the  muscles,  also  occurs,  and  a  thousand  and  one 
other  phenomena  over  which  scientists  have  been  so  puzzled,  not 
having  the  key.  This  key  is,  that  every  one  of  these  acts,  from  teta- 
nus to  double-tasting  or  picture-seeing  where  none  exists,  are  pure 
"suggestions,"  many  of  which  are  unconsciously  made  by  the  hyp- 
notizer.  He  has  possession  of  the  physical  brain  of  his  subject  to 
an  extent  of  which  he  is  little  aware,  and  it  responds  to  his  most 
subtle,  unworded  thought.  "  Suggestion"  is  only  the  obedience 
by  the  subject's  body  and  brain  to  the  same  will  currents  and  finer 
forces  by  means  of  which  he  governs  his  own  body  and  mind ;  and 
could  not  take  place,  even  in  ordinary,  unhypnotic  suggestions,  if 
the  center  of  consciousness  had  not  relaxed,  to  a  certain  degree 
at  least,  its  hold  upon  its  own  body.  In  lethargic  hypnosis  this 
hold  is  loosened  until  it  amounts  to  a  practical  abandonment  of  its 
tenement. 

But  this  center  of  consciousness  can  not  be  annihilated.  Driven 
from  its  physical  habitation,  it  will,  under  a  more  determined 
effort  of  the  hypnotizer,  or  under  the  impetus  of  the  self- 
hypnotizer's  will,  reappear,  functioning  in  more  and  more  ethe- 
real bases,  or  "  Principles,"  until  it  finally  retreats  or  is  driven  to  a 
point  where  the  will  of  the  hypnotizer,  no  matter  how  powerful, 
can  no  longer  control  it.  This  may  be  called  the  Noetic  or  Man- 
asic  point,  as  distinguished  from  the  lower,  or  psychic  states. 
There  are  many  substages  before  this  point  of  freedom  is  reached 
in  which  this  Center,  using  bases  more  and  more  spiritualized,  dis- 
plays apparently  more  and  more  "supernatural"  powers,  which 
are  only  those  appropriate  to  these  planes  of  materiality.  In  all 
of  them  the  subject  is  influenced  and  controlled  to  a  greater  or 
lesser  degree  by  the  will  of  the  hypnotizer,  and  all  opinions,  ideas, 
and  knowledge  modified  and  measured  by  his.  This,  again,  is 
the  key  to  that  large  class  of  phenomena  just  a  step  above  those 
of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  which  may  be  termed  psychic,  as 
those  below  them  were  termed  physical,  and  those  above  Noetic 
or  Manasic. 

It  is  in  this  psychic  realm  that  almost  all  of  the  so-called  "  spir- 
itual" manifestations  find  their  habitat ',  when  these  display  any 


HYPNOTISM    AND   THE   HUMAN    SOUL.  149 

intelligence  at  all.  This  is  the  home  of  "  seers"  and  "  clairvoyants," 
of  fakirs  and  fortune-tellers.  For  he  who  can  by  self-hypnosis, 
or  by  the  aid  of  another,  establish  his  consciousness  upon  this 
psychic  plane,  will  find  himself  possessed  of  powers  which  are  just 
as  natural  here  as  ordinary  sight  and  hearing  are  on  the  physical. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  these  is  the  ability  to  sense  thought 
without  its  having  been  materialized  in  words.  This  is  known  as 
"mind-reading,"  and  all  those  who  reach  this  plane  can  do  this  to 
a  greater  or  lesser  degree.  Direct  perception,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  the  physical  senses,  at  least,  appears  upon  the  higher  of 
these  psychic  or  somnambulic  planes,  as  is  shown  in  cases  where 
hypnotized  subjects  have  correctly  diagnosed  and  located  physical 
ailments,  unsuspected  before  their  pointing  them  out,  and  verified 
by  subsequent  post-mortem  examinations.  These  diagnoses,  how- 
ever, are  strictly  limited  upon  this  psychic  plane  to  self-diagnosis, 
or  at  least  have  little  or  no  value  if  they  are  attempted  to  be  made 
upon  another  person.  Wonderful  as  many  of  the  feats  done  by 
psychics  are,  they  still  fall  under  the  classification  of  mind-reading; 
for  any  information  which  they  give  must,  to  be  accurate,  already 
exist  in  the  mind  of  some  one  present.  Thus,  one  of  the  most 
noted,  the  celebrated  Alexis,  failed  completely  to  read  an  unopened 
letter,  the  contents  of  which  were  unknown  to  his  interlocutor, 
although  he  correctly  described  the  personal  appearance  and  sur- 
roundings of  the  sender,  which  were  known.  Had  the  contents 
been  subjected  to  even  a  single  reading,  Alexis  would  no  doubt 
have  read  the  letter  correctly,  although  his  interlocutor  could  not 
have  repeated  it  from  memory,  which  shows  how  complete  a  pict- 
ure of  all  the  acts  and  thoughts  of  our  life  is  recorded  upon  the 
physical  tablets  of  the  brain — an  open  book  to  whomsoever  has  the 
power  to  read.  It  also  indicates  how  marvelously  mental  powers 
are  quickened  when  the  mind  no  longer  functions  through  its  low- 
est or  molecular  vehicle. 

But  far  above  all  these  psychic  states  lies  the  domain  of  true 
Mesmerism,  with  a  class  of  phenomena  peculiarly  its  own,  and 
which  are  very  seldom  brought  to  view  by  the  ordinary  peri- 
patetic, or  even  the  "  scientific,"  hypnotizer.  Indeed,  it  is  this 
plane  which  the  hypnotizer  seeks  to  avoid,  because,  as  he  com- 
plains, his  subject  "  gets  beyond  his  control."  Yet  it  is  this  very 
point  which  divides  White  from  Black  Magic;  and  all  who  stop 
short  of  it  through  ignorance  or  fear  may  know  the  class  to  which 


ISO  A   STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

they  belong.  The  very  vibrations  of  the  hypnotic  state  pertain 
to  a  lower  plane  of  matter.  They  are  Molecular r,  and  can  be  pro- 
duced by  attuning  the  consciousness  to  molecular  vibration,  such 
as  gazing  at  bright  objects,  etc.,  as  pointed  out  above.  The  Mes- 
meric, Noetic,  or  manasic  vibrations  are  Atomic^  and  proceed  from 
a  much  higher  plane,  and  in  an  exactly  opposite  direction.  The 
vibrations  in  hypnotism  pass  from  without  within;  those  of  Mes- 
merism from  within  without,  in  harmony  with  the  law  of  evolu- 
tion. The  one  is  on  the  plane  of  Kama,  or  selfish  desire,  and  is 
destructive  in  its  nature;  the  other  on  that  of  Manas,  unselfishness, 
and  is  creative,  life-giving,  Cosmic  Magnetism.  As  pointed  out 
by  Wm.  Q.  Judge,*  "the  process  going  on  in  hypnotism  is  the 
contraction  of  the  cells  of  the  body  and  the  brain  from  the  periph- 
ery to  the  center.  This  is  actually  a  phenomenon  of  death,  and 
is  the  opposite  of  the  mesmeric  effect.  Magnetism  by  human 
influence  starts  from  within  and  proceeds  to  the  outer  surface,  thus 
exhibiting  a  phenomenon  of  life  the  very  opposite  of  hypnotism." 
If  we  remember  that  the  occult  definition  of  an  atom  is  the  seventh 
or  conscious  principle  of  a  molecule,  we  can  see  that  the  play  of 
the  one  is  on  the  plane  of  blind,  the  other  of  intelligent,  force, 
respectively.  This  is  why  the  action  of  Mesmerism  is  curative 
and  helpful  in  its  nature.  It  is  acting  in  harmony  with  nature's 
processes;  it  is  the  evolution  from  within  without,  under  which 
law  the  whole  Universe  exists. 

The  phenomena  of  Mesmerism,  or,  more  properly,  Magnetism, 
are  of  a  nature  we  might  anticipate  from  the  close  union  of  the 
soul  with  the  source  of  all  its  powers,  the  Higher  Ego.  They  are 
prophetic,  intuitional,  universal.  As  on  the  higher  planes  of  the 
psychic  states  the  soul  seems  to  contact  and  sense  material  things 
without  the  intervention  of  the  physical  senses,  so  upon  this  it 
arrives  directly  at  intellectual  truths,  without  the  aids  of  reason- 
ing or  ratiocinative  processes.  Prophecies  of  the  death  of  their 
body,  as  well  as  future  events  on  the  material  plane,  are  common 
to  somnambulists  who  have  reached  this  condition,  although  these 
are  of  the  very  lowest  of  Mesmeric  powers.  Prophetic  dreams  fall 
under  this  head,  as  they  are  simply  the  Higher  Ego  functioning 
upon  its  own  proper  plane,  and  a  glimpse  of  whose  knowledge 
has  been  impressed  upon  the  brain  cells  of  the  personality.  Indeed, 
one  great  and  deep  distinction  between  the  hypnotic  and  mes- 

*The  Ocean  of  Theosophy. 


HYPNOTISM   AND   THE   HUMAN    SOUL.  I$I 

meric  states  is  that  the  former  requires  that  the  Ego  should  be 
made  unconscious  on  the  material  plane  before  its  phenomena 
can  fully  and  freely  issue,  while  mesmeric  effects  can  be  produced 
quite  independently  of  the  unconsciousness  and  destruction  of  the 
Will  by  any  of  the  hypnotic  adjuncts.  The  mesmeric  phenomena 
proceed  from  the  higher,  inner  planes;  and  can  and  do  cause  an 
influx  of  life,  strength,  and  vigor  into  the  physical  system  of  the 
mesmerized  subject  while  he  is  in  the  full  possession  of  all  his 
ordinary  mental  powers,  and  quite  unconscious  that  any  such  pro- 
cess is  taking  place.  Indeed,  this  unconsciousness  is  often  mutual, 
neither  the  giver  nor  receiver  being  aware  of  what  is  taking  place; 
or,  in  the  case  of  Mental  and  Christian  Science,  not  knowing  how 
or  why  they  cure  disease  when  this  follows  upon  their  "treat- 
ments." It  is  simply  the  transfer  of  their  own  vital,  electric, 
atomic  magnetism,  taking  place  under  the  passive  aspect  of  the 
Will,  or  Desire.  Its  principal  agent  is  the  eye,  usually  assisted  by 
"passes,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  crystal-gazing,  or  other  phys- 
ical methods,  of  hypnotism.  The  actual  modus  operandi  of  the 
two  processes  necessary  in  the  production  of  Mesmerism  and 
hypnotism  have  been  nicely  distinguished  by  Madame  Blavatsky. 
She  writes:* 

"  When  the  first  method  (Braid's)  is  used,  no  electro-psychic,  or  even  electro- 
physical  currents  are  at  work,  but  simply  the  mechanical,  molecular  vibra- 
tions of  the  metal  or  crystal  gazed  at  by  the  subject.  It  is  the  eye — the  most 
occult  organ  of  all  on  the  superficies  of  our  body — which,  by  serving  as  a 
medium  between  that  bit  of  metal  or  crystal  and  the  brain,  attunes  the  molec- 
ular vibrations  of  the  nervous  centers  of  the  latter  into  unison  (/.  e.t  equality 
in  the  number  of  their  respective  oscillations)  with  the  vibrations  of  the  bright 
object  held.  And  it  is  this  unison  which  produces  the  hypnotic  state.  But, 
in  the  second  case,  the  right  name  for  hypnotism  would  certainly  be  *  animal 
magnetism,'  or  that  so  much  derided  term,  Mesmerism.  For,  in  the  hypno- 
tization  by  preliminary  passes,  it  is  the  human  will — whether  conscious  or 
otherwise — of  the  operator  himself  that  acts  upon  the  nervous  system  of  the 
patient.  And  it  is  again  through  the  vibrations — only  atomic,  not  molecular — 
produced  by  that  act  of  energy  called  WILI<  in  the  ether  of  space  (therefore 
on  quite  a  different  plane)  that  the  super-hypnotic  (/.  *.,  'suggestion,'  etc.,) 
is  induced.  For  those  which  we  call  will- vibrations  and  their  aura  are  abso- 
lutely distinct  from  the  vibrations  produced  by  the  simple  mechanical  molecu- 
lar motion,  the  two  acting  on  separate  degrees  of  the  cosmo-terrestrial  planes.*' 

*Lucifer,  Vol.  VII.  No.  40" 


A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

These  statements,  again,  will  be  derided  by  so-called  "  science." 
With  them  "suggestion" — by  which  is  meant,  according  to  Dr. 
Bjornstrom*,  "every  operation  which  in  a  living  being  causes  some 
involuntary  effect,  the  impulse  to  which  passes  through  the  intel- 
lect"— covers  the  whole  of  this  terra  incognita.  How  the  idea 
that  she  is  hypnotized  and  unable  to  move  is  "  impulsed"  through 
the  intellect  of  a  hen,  from  the  point  of  whose  bill  a  chalk  line  is 
drawn  upon  the  ground  in  front  of  her,  we  leave  for  some  learned 
"  Psychical  Research  Society"  to  investigate;  the  subject  may  be 
upon  its  intellectual  level.  In  fact,  "  suggestion,"  as  accounting 
for  hypnotism  upon  the  theory  of  ideas  set  up  in  the  subject, 
entirely  breaks  down  before  the  facts  of  the  hypnosis  of  animals. 
Let  a  man  stand  in  front  of  a  hungry  lion  and  "  suggest"  to  him 
that  he  is  not  hungry,  and  he  will  presently  find  himself  within 
the  stomach  of  the  beast;  while,  if  he  can  catch  the  eye,  and  has 
the  courage  and  knowledge  to  attune  its  vibrations  to  his  own,  he 
need  not  fear  the  most  ferocious  denizen  of  the  forest.  This  is 
the  secret  of  the  Rareys  and  lion-tamers,  which  they  unconsciously 
exercise;  and,  indeed,  it  is  the  secret  of  that  "  dominion  over  every 
beast  of  the  earth"  which  has  enabled  man  to  make  them  his  un- 
willing subjects  from  the  day  that  he  first  appreciated  the  strength 
of  his  human  will. 

From  all  of  the  preceding,  it  will  be  gathered  that  Theosophists 
look  with  no  friendly  eye  upon  the  practice  of  hypnotism,  except 
under  the  most  strict  legal  and  moral  supervision.  The  dangers 
are  many,  and  self-evident.  If  the  very  walls  and  stones  preserve 
a  record  of  shadows  cast  across  them,  which  even  science  admits, 
how  much  more  lasting  the  impression  produced  upon  the  sensi- 
tive brain  structure  by  the  deliberate  and  forcible  impress  of  the 
will  of  another.  It  is  a  matter  of  grave  doubt  whether  the  hyp- 
notized, after  a  thorough  hypnosis,  ever  regain  perfectly  free  will 
and  entirely  normal  consciousness.  Certain  well-verified  phe- 
nomena would  indicate  the  reverse.  For  example :  It  is  related 
of  a  well-known  hypnotizer — then  classed  as  a  "  miracle"  worker, 
or  magnetic  healer — that  he  once  removed  a  neuralgia,  of  long 
standing,  from  the  arm  of  a  certain  sufferer,  who  thereupon 
returned  to  his  own  country.  After  some  years  of  perfect  free- 
dom, the  pain  suddenly  returned  one  day,  with  all  its  former 

"Hypnotism,  p.  41. 


HYPNOTISM   AND   THE  HUMAN   SOUL.  153 

intensity.  Inquiry  revealed  the  startling  fact  that  at  the  very 
hour  in  which  it  did  so  the  magnetizer  had  died. 

Quite  as  suggestive  is  the  case,  vouched  for  by  several  hypno- 
tizers,  where  the  sleeping  subject  was  ordered  to  do  a  certain  act 
at  some  designated  interval  after  he  was  awakened.  The  hyp- 
nosis was  then  removed,  and  the  subject  to  all  appearances  widely 
awake — quite  free  to  think  and  act  as  he  pleased.  Yet,  when 
the  time  arrived  at  which  he  was  commanded  to  do  it,  he  obeyed 
as  implicitly  as  though  he  were  yet  completely  hypnotized.  But, 
though  acting  with  apparently  full  consciousness  and  knowledge 
of  what  he  did,  he  denied  immediately  afterward  that  he  had  per- 
formed any  such  action  at  all,  and  could  not  be  convinced  to  the 
contrary.  This  experiment,  verified  by  many  similar  ones, 
showed  plainly  that,  though  apparently  awake,  as  far  as  human 
observation  could  detect,  the  subject  was  not  so  fully  and  com- 
pletely, and  that  a  portion  of  his  normal  consciousness  was  en- 
tirely suppressed  and  under  the  subjugation  of  the  will  of  another. 

From  a  criminal  standpoint,  also,  these  suggestions  obeyed  after 
long  intervals  of  apparently  complete  self-control  have  a  most 
important  bearing.  Suggestions  have  been  carried  out  down  to 
the  most  minute,  trifling  detail  after  even  a  year  had  elapsed  since 
the  hypnosis.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  a  hypnotizer  could  cause  any 
crime  which  avarice  or  revenge  might  dictate  to  be  accomplished 
without  its  being  possible  to  connect  him  legally  with  that  for 
which  he  is  morally  responsible. 

Again,  a  suggestion  often,  if  not  always,  acts  like  a  physical 
stimulus  in  a  dream,  as  when  a  drop  of  water  on  the  face  has 
caused  the  dramatization  of  a  whole  sequence  of  thunder-storm, 
shipwreck,  etc.,  by  the  dreamer.  Similarly,  a  seemingly  simple 
suggestion  may  set  up  a  train  of  desires,  utterly  out  of  proportion 
to  the  primary  impulse,  as  a  city  may  be  destroyed  by  the  acci- 
dental lighting  of  a  match.  Thus,  in  one  instance*  it  was  sug- 
gested to  the  subject  that  she  desired  some  cherries.  Instead  of 
passing  off  when  awakened  this  desire  increased  in  intensity,  and 
was  only  satisfied  by  the  purchase  of  some  the  next  day. 

It  is  now,  also,  after  a  stormy  denial  on  the  part  of  science,  uni- 
versally admitted  that  hypnotism  can  be  produced  from  a  distance, 
without  the  subject  knowing  it,  against  his  will,  and  even  during 
sleep.  In  all  these  instances  so  far  recorded  there  has  been  a 

*Bjornstrom,  ioc .  tit. 


154  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

magnetic  rapport  established  by  a  submission  to  hypnosis  before 
these  disputed  phenomena  could  be  accomplished,  which  only  adds 
strength  to  the  view  that  the  hypnotized  is  never  free  from  the 
will  of  the  hypnotizer  again,  the  rapport  simply  meaning  in  these 
cases  a  state  of  partial  hypnosis.  It  also  emphasizes  the  fact  that 
one  ought  to  submit  to  any  torture  rather  than  be  hypnotized,  and 
that  he  had  far  better  "  experiment"  with  the  most  deadly  phys- 
ical poisons  than  with  this  equally  deadly  moral  one.  There  is  no 
apparent  reason  why  all  of  these  terrible  powers  for  evil  could  not 
be  exercised  upon  any  one  by  a  Black  Magician,  sufficiently 
versed  in  his  art.  And  there  is  no  question  that  a  pursuit  of  the 
study,  together  with  a  practice,  of  hypnotism  will  ultimately  end  in 
Black  Magic  for  all  its  lay  practitioners.  The  distinction  between 
Black  and  White  Magic  is  in  MOTIVE  only;  the  forces  used  are 
the  same.  There  must  be  a  perfect  and  complete  altruism,  an 
utter  abandonment  of  self,  before  we  can  rise  to  the  planes  of 
Mesmerism  and  White  Magic.  The  sweetest,  purest,  most  ethe- 
real "  Christian  Scientist"  who  accepts  a  fee  for  her  "  denial"  that 
her  patient  is  ill  or  her  affirmation  that  he  is  well,  has  taken  the 
first  step  on  the  declivity  which  will  sooner  or  later  lead  to  the 
awful  precipices  of  the  Black  Magician,  from  which  there  is  no 
escape;  for  there  is  the  element  of  self,  no  matter  how  seemingly 
justifiable,  which  will  prove  the  germ  that  will  ultimately  poison 
her  whole  being.  The  operations  of  most  "  healers"  have  this  in 
common  with  White  Magic  and  Mesmerism,  that  their  "  sugges- 
tions" are  made  with  the  subject  in  full  possession  of  all  his  mental 
faculties  and  consciousness,  and  are  not  accompanied  with  that 
soul-tainting,  will-destroying,  obsessing  vampirism  of  the  hypnotic 
"  sleep."  It  is  true  that  the  latter  may  be  apparently  justified  in 
order  to  overcome  a  peculiarly  stubborn  will  or  vicious  habit,  but 
where  it  is  resorted  to  the  motive  ought  to  be  as  pure  as  the  snow 
upon  the  heights  of  the  Himalayas. 

This  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  question  as  to  the 
extent  to  which  hypnotism  may  be  justifiably  practiced.  Its  field 
would  seem  to  be  limited  to  attempts  to  cure  disease  and  to  over- 
come bad  habits;  and,  in  selecting  cases,  the  nicest  discrimination, 
guided  by  considerations  pointed  out,  must  be  used.  Madame 
Blavatsky,*  whose  knowledge  of  occult  subjects  far  exceeded  that 

*Lucifer,  loc.  cit. 


HYPNOTISM   AND   THE   HUMAN   SOUL.  155 

of  any  living  writer,  defines  its  legitimate  uses  and  points  out 
some  of  its  abuses  thus : 

"Hypnotic  suggestion  may  cure  forever,  and  it  may  not.  If  Karmic,  dis- 
eases will  only  be  postponed,  and  will  return  in  some  other  form,  not  necessarily 
of  disease,  but  as  a  punitive  evil  of  another  sort.  It  is  always  right  to  try  and 
alleviate  suffering  whenever  we  can,  and  to  do  our  best  for  it.  Thought  is 
more  powerful  than  speech  in  cases  of  a  real  subjugation  of  the  will  of  the 
patient  to  that  of  his  operator.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  unless  the  suggestion 
made  is  for  the  good  only  of  the  subject,  and  entirely  free  from  any  selfish 
motive,  a  suggestion  by  thought  is  an  action  of  Black  Magic  still  more  preg- 
nant with  evil  consequences  than  a  spoken  suggestion.  It  is  always  wrong 
and  unlawful  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  free  will,  unless  for  his  own  or  society's 
good,  and  even  the  former  has  to  be  done  with  great  discrimination.  Occult- 
ism regards  all  such  promiscuous  attempts  as  Black  Magic  and  sorcery,  whether 
conscious  or  otherwise.  As  to  whether  it  is  wise  to  hypnotize  a  patient  out  of 
a  vicious  habit,  such  as  drinking  or  lying,  it  is  an  act  of  charity  and  kindness, 
and  this  is  next  to  wisdom.  For,  although  the  dropping  of  his  vicious  habits 
will  add  nothing  to  his  good  Karma  (which  it  would  had  his  efforts  to  reform 
been  personal,  of  his  own  free  will,  and  necessitating  a  great  mental  and 
physical  struggle),  still  a  successful  'suggestion*  prevents  him  from  generat- 
ing more  bad  Karma,  and  adding  constantly  to  the  previous  record  of  his 
transgressing." 

In  regard  to  the  modus  operandi  of  "  faith"  healing,  she  further 
says: 

41  Imagination  is  a  potent  help  in  every  event  of  our  lives.  Imagination 
acts  on  faith,  and  both  are  the  draughtsmen  who  prepare  the  sketches  for  will 
to  engrave,  more  or  less  deeply,  on  the  rock  of  obstacles  and  opposition  with 
which  the  path  of  life  is  strewn.  Says  Paracelsus,  *  Faith  must  confirm  the 
imagination,  for  faith  establishes  the  will.  Determined  will  is  the  beginning 
of  all  magical  operations.  It  is  because  men  do  not  perfectly  imagine  and 
believe  the  result  that  the  arts  (of  magic)  are  uncertain,  while  they  might  be 
perfectly  certain.'  This  is  all  the  secret.  Half,  if  not  two-thirds,  of  all  our 
ailings  and  diseases  are  the  fruit  of  our  imagination  and  fears.  Destroy  the 
latter  and  give  another  bent  to  the  former,  and  nature  will  do  the  rest.  There 
is  nothing  injurious  or  sinful  in  the  methods,  per  se.  They  turn  to  harm  only 
when  belief  in  his  power  becomes  too  arrogant  and  marked  in  the  faith  healer, 
and  when  he  thinks  he  can  will  away  such  diseases  as  need,  if  they  are  to  be 
removed  at  all,  the  immediate  help  of  expert  surgeons  and  physicians." 

But  perhaps  the  chief  reason  for  abstaining  from  the  practice 


1 56  A  STUDY   OF  THE  SOUL. 

of  hypnotism,  except  in  extreme  cases,  and  under  the  restrictions 
pointed  out,  is  our  blind  ignorance  of  the  finer  forces  of  nature 
which  we  are  evoking.  Thus,  it  happened  to  the  writer  to  find 
that  a  subject,  whom  he  had  hypnotized  merely  as  a  pleasant  even- 
ing's entertainment,  appeared  to  become  afterward  a  kind  of 
reflector  of  his  (the  writer's)  mental  states  and  ideas.  Let  the 
writer  be  thinking  of  a  subject,  and  his  patient  would  allude  to  it; 
let  him  mentally  hum  a  song,  and  he  would  be  startled  by  hear- 
ing his  unconscious  serf  immediately  vocalizing  it,  etc.,  and  all 
this  with  no  desire  or  thought  on  the  writer's  part  that  this  should 
follow. 

A  paragraph  which  went  the  rounds  of  the  press  some  time 
since  is  very  instructive  in  this  connection.  It  is  to  the  effect  that 
a  certain  Spaniard,  named  Perez,  arriving  at  Mier,  Mexico,  was 
immediately  made  the  recipient  *of  gifts  of  a  varied  character  from 
people  to  whom  he  was  a  perfect  stranger.  Some  of  these  were 
silly,  as  when  the  waiter  removed  all  the  bottles  of  wine  from  the 
other  guests,  and  transferred  them  to  the  tables  of  Perez.  Being 
threatened  with  violence,  and  called  upon  to  explain,  Perez  admit- 
ted that  he  was  a  trained  and  marvelously  proficient  hypnotizer, 
which  had  become  such  a  passion  that  he  could  not  resist  prac- 
ticing his  gift  upon  those  about  him.  But  it  is  evident  from  the 
account  given  that  Perez  often  hypnotized  people  without  himself 
being  aware  of  it.  And  here  we  have  a  key  to  the  states  of  con- 
sciousness portrayed  in  "  Mr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde,"  as  also  to 
that  delineated  by  one  who,  we  have  many  reasons  for  believing, 
founded  his  occult  stories  upon  the  basis  of  real  occult  knowledge, 
the  result  of  a  partial  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  the  East. 
This  is  the  character  of  Margrave  in  "  A  Strange  Story,"  by  Bul- 
wer  Lytton.  It  appears  that  the  author  makes  Margrave  himself 
not  aware  of  the  evils  which  his  "double"  plotted  and  carried  into 
execution.  At  any  rate,  we  have  the  warning  that,  before  one 
seeks  to  transfer  his  consciousness  to  higher  and  inner  planes  of 
being,  he  should  first  become  "pure  in  heart,"  as  it  is  only  such 
that  truly  "  see  their  god."  For  the  farther  one  retreats  within 
the  unfathomable  depths  of  his  being,  the  stronger  and  more  pow- 
erful for  good  or  evil  do  the  forces  which  he  employs  become ;  and 
this  from  a  selfish,  personal  point  of  view  alone,  saying  nothing 
of  the  immediate  woe  he  may  work  through  employing  ignorantly 
such  a  potent  factor  as  the  human  will  becomes  in  hypnotism. 


HYPNOTISM   AND   THE   HUMAN   SOUL.  157 

From  all  the  foregoing  it  will  be  apparent  how  completely  the 
facts  of  hypnotism  sustain  the  hypothesis  that  the  human  soul  is 
an  unit  center  of  consciousness,  using  many  vehicles.  Of  these 
the  physical  sense  organs  are  only  required  to  enable  it  to  come 
into  conscious  relations  with  molecular  planes  of  being.  It  also 
brings  out,  with  startling  distinctness,  the  fact  that  these  sense 
organs  limit  the  soul's  conscious  area,  instead  of  widening  it,  thus 
completely  negativing  the  materialistic  hypothesis  of  the  conscious 
functions  of  the  soul  being  the  result  of  molecular  or  chemical  act- 
ivities in  the  body.  Equally  important  is  the  light  it  throws  upon 
the  composite  nature  of  man,  and  the  relation  sustained  to  his 
center  of  consciousness  by  the  various  "  souls' "  vehicles  or  Prin- 
ciples through  which  that  center  may  manifest.  But,  of  course, 
the  crowning  usefulness  of  a  study  of  hypnotic  consciousness  is 
that  in  demonstrating  the  independence  of  the  human  soul  of  its 
physical  organs  it  establishes  as  a  necessary  corollary  the  fact  of 
its  Reincarnation. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  REINCARNATION. 

'HE  chief  objection  to  reincarnation  is  that  we  do  not  remem- 
ber our  past  lives,  as  we  ought  to  do  if  our  "  I  am  I"  is  a 
permanent  center  of  consciousness,  and  merely  passes  from  body 
to  body  upon  the  death  of  these.  This  at  first  sight  seems  a  valid 
objection,  for  memory  seems  a  necessary  link  in  constituting  true 
self-consciousness.  One  chief  argument  advanced  in  proof  of  the 
existence  of  a  soul  is  that  there  is  a  central  something  which  binds 
states  of  consciousness  into  a  continuous  and  connected  unity, 
and  without  which  unifying  center  they  would  of  necessity  remain 
simply  states  of  consciousness;  those  present  having  no  memory 
of  nor  hold  upon  those  past,  nor  anticipation  of  those  in  the  future. 
Therefore,  we  ought  to  remember  our  nast  if  that  past  has  been 
really  continuous;  and  the  objection  is  fital  unless  the  loss  of  the 
memory  of  our  various  personalities  is  fully  explained. 

This  explanation  is  found  in  the  compound  nature  of  man.  We 
have  seen  that  the  Higher  Ego  is  only  incarnated  in  a  human- 
animal  body  for  the  purpose  of  descending  to  this  plane  of  mol- 
ecular consciousness;  that  there  are  really  three  evolutionary  pro- 
cesses going  on  simultaneously  in  man — a  physical,  or  that  of  form, 
an  intellectual  or  manasic,  and  a  spiritual  or  monadic.  With  this 
third  process  the  divine  Monad  is  alone  concerned.  The  second, 
or  intellectual,  evolution,  is  that  of  the  Higher  Ego.  The  third 
appertains  to  the  Lower  Quaternary.  While  in  man  these  three 
distinct  streams  of  evolution  are  inextricably  interblended,  because 
to  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  each  process  is  a  factor  in  both  the 
others;  still,  they  ar6  distinct  enough  without  being  separate  to 
fully  account  for  non-remembrance  of  the  one  upon  the  plane  of 
the  other.  Memory  has  been  variously  divided  and  classified  by 
psychologists,  which  divisions  do  not  require  analysis  here.  The 
one  essential  in  any  act  of  memory  is  the  recording  of  a  conscious 
experience.  This  record  will  and  must  differ  with  each  plane  of 
consciousness.  The  manasic  plane  being  that  of  true  self- 
consciousness,  it  takes  here  the  self-conscious  form ;  upon  the  phys- 
ical, it  records  itself  in  other  changes,  which  are  physical  rather 


OBJECTIONS   TO    REINCARNATION.  159 

than  mental.  None  the  less,  however,  are  these  changes  the 
records  of  memory  because  below  the  self-conscious  plane.  The 
physical  form  and  psychic  characteristics,  which  represent  the  infi- 
nite variations  in  the  entities  upon  the  material  plane  of  the 
Universe,  constitute  the  memory  of  the  conscious  experiences  of 
each  entity  recorded  in  these  physical  modifications.  In  the  phys- 
ical body  of  man  is  thus  recorded  each  conscious  experience 
undergone  since  he  occupied  that  mass  of  jelly-like  substance 
which  we  have  reason  to  suspect  was  his  first  body,  although  the 
great  mass  of  these  experiences  have  of  necessity  been  below  the 
self-conscious  plane. 

Here,  then,  lies  the  secret  of  our  not  remembering  our  past 
lives.  They  have  been  and  are  entirely  too  much  upon  the  phys- 
ical plane  to  find  other  record  than  in  those  physical  and  lower 
psychic  modifications  of  form  and  passional  characteristics  which 
lie  too  far  below  it  to  have  any  record  upon  the  plane  of  manasic 
or  true  self-consciousness.  The  most  of  our  conscious  experiences 
are  almost  purely  animal;  and  while  they  are  temporarily 
recorded  as  separate  experiences  upon  the  brain  cells  of  each  body, 
this  record  is  of  necessity  destroyed  as  a  self-conscious  register  at 
death,  and  is  only  preserved  upon  the  corresponding  register  of 
its  own  plane — that  of  evolutionary  modification.  The  record  is 
destroyed  as  a  self-conscious  register  for  the  reason  that  the  per- 
sonality has  no  true  self-consciousness.  The  feeling  of  "I  am  I" 
of  our  ordinary  conscious  experiences  is  reflected  there  by  the 
Higher  Ego,  as  was  explained  in  the  chapter  dealing  with  that 
portion  of  the  subject,  and  passes  away  entirely  either  at  or  briefly 
following  death.  All  those  ambitions,  "  successes,"  and  even 
intellectual  achievements,  no  matter  how  colossal  they  appear,  if 
only  intellectual,  and  not  spiritualized,  fall  within  the  fatal  line  of 
non-permanency.  The  life  of  a  Napoleon,  or  of  a  Bacon,  repre- 
sents only  the  lower  animal  faculties — intensely  intellectualized, 
to  be  sure,  but  having  no  greater  claim  to  the  spiritual  remem- 
brance of  the  Higher  Ego  than  the  humblest  events  in  the  life  of 
a  clodhopper.  One  must  live  upon  the  plane  of  the  Higher 
Manas  to  have  a  truly  self-conscious  memory;  otherwise,  he  can 
and  ought  to  expect  tr  e  obliteration  of  his  personal  memory  after 
devachanic  existence  ceases  and  his  next  reincarnation  occurs. 
And  just  in  proportion  as  one  does  live  in  his  higher  Principles 
will  each  personality  live  in  the  memory  of  the  Higher  Ego;  and, 


l6o  A   STUDY    OF   THE   SOUL. 

also,  in  proportion  to  his  ability  to  reach  this  divine  plane  of  truly 
continuous  self-consciousness  while  in  the  body  will  he  remember 
his  past  lives. 

Those  conscious  experiences  which  represent  the  borderland,  as 
it  were,  between  the  higher  and  lower  Manas,  or  between  the 
Individuality  and  Personality,  are  carried  forward  as  devachanic 
memories;  but,  being  semi-spiritual  only,  they  are  lost  as  self- 
conscious  experiences  upon  reincarnation.  They  have  all  the  per- 
manence to  which  their  mixed  nature  entitles  them  in  the  illusory 
but  very  happy  recalling  of  them  while  in»  this  subjective  state. 
For  the  chief  happiness  of  this  condition  lies  in  the  power  of  the 
soul  to  take  an  earth  memory  or  desire  and  make  it  the  text,  so 
to  speak,  upon  which  a  series  of  thought  pictures  are  constructed 
and  which  carry  the  unrealized  desire  or  interrupted  happiness  to 
its  highest  ideal  termination.  The  whole  of  Devachan  is  thus 
largely  composed  of  these  dramatized  realizations  of  desires  aris- 
ing out  of  conscious  experiences  while  in  the  body.  It  is  only 
necessary  that  they  should  rise  above  the  plane  of  gross  animality 
for  them  to  become  the  objects  of  this  devachanic  dramatization 
and  realization. 

That  man's  conscious  experiences  upon  earth  are  so  largely 
recorded  upon  the  physical  plane  and  in  these  karmic  modifica- 
tions of  physical  heredity,  is  a  most  beneficent  provision  of 
nature.  So  full  of  mistakes,  errors,  sins,  and  crimes  is  the  past 
of,  perhaps,  every  one  of  us,  that  the  actual  memory  of  it  all 
carried  forward  in  detail  to  each  new  life  would  overwhelm  the 
soul  with  despair  at  the  very  outset.  Nor  is  it  essential  to  the 
conviction  of  our  having  lived  before  that  we  should  remember 
each  incident  in  our  past  lives,  or  even  that  we  have  lived  before 
at  all.  Who  remembers  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  his  infancy? 
The  fact  that  we  were  the  same  individual  during  this  period  of 
forgotten  existence  that  we  are  now,  none  of  us  doubt,  yet  we 
would  be  sorely  put  about  if  we  were  required  to  furnish  proof  of 
this  from  memory.  And  even  after  this  portion,  how  much  do 
we  remember  of  our  life  history  if  we  attempt  to  recall  it  day  by 
day,  in  all  its  trifling  minutiae?  Of  the  three-score  years  and  ten 
of  human  existence  in  the  body,  few  can  accurately  recall  the 
events  of  as  many  days — nay,  hardly  of  as  many  minutes.  All, 
except  prodigies  of  memory,  have  practically  forgotten  nine  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  of  every  thousand  incidents  of  all  their 


OBJECTIONS   TO    REINCARNATION.  iOI 

past.  And  yet  the  fact  does  not  disturb  us  at  all.  We  know 
that  we  are  the  result  of  this  experience  we  have  come  through; 
that  our  identity  is  the  same  with  that  of  the  infant,  the  school 
boy,  the  youth,  the  over-confident  young  man,  the  earnest,  wiser 
one  of  middle  life,  the  tranquil,  saddened  one  of  old  age.  Through 
it  all  the  use  of  memory,  being  so  largely  physical,  has  been  to 
link  results  together  rather  than  incidents ;  to  enable  us  to  benefit 
by  the  past  rather  than  to  be  able  to  remember  each  particular 
portion  of  it. 

This  is  the  surest  memory — the  knowledge  that  the  crystal- 
lized results  of  what  we  have  experienced  are  fully  and  completely 
expressed  in  what  we  are  now.  Are  we  prone  to  anger,  and  find 
it  difficult  to  control  fits  of  passion?  Here  is  the  memory  of 
many  a  deed  of  violence  done  under  the  dominance  of  our  lower 
nature  long  ago.  Do  we  turn  with  horror  away  from  injustice  or 
extortion  ?  Be  assured  we  are  remembering  the  time  when  we 
ourselves  were  the  sufferers  from  similar  unjust  acts.  And  so  on 
through  all  the  most  delicate  intricacies  of  our  being.  We  are  the 
creation  of  our  past;  and  the  nature  we  have  evolved  is  its 
memory.  If  we  have  gathered  wisdom  from  the  experiences  of 
our  lives,  it  is  enough;  in  just  what  the  experience  consisted  is  of 
little  moment.  We  may  feel  sure  that  under  the  guidance  of  the 
divine  law  of  Karma  no  experience  has  touched  or  ever  can  touch 
us  which  we  have  not  deserved  in  some  capacity,  either  in  our 
individual,  our  family,  our  racial,  or  our  national  relations  with 
our  fellow-men. 

Even  before  death,  if  we  live  to  be  old,  nature  anticipates  the 
process  by  which  she  prepares  us  for  new  experiences,  and  we 
become  again  as  little  children.  Our  life  work  is  done.  All  the 
knowledge  which  we  can  assimilate  in  this  incarnation  has  been 
acquired,  and  so  we  return  to  the  devachanic  condition  of  child- 
hood; and  the  mystery  of  involution,  or  the  assimilating  of  the  net 
results  of  experience,  begins  because  the  time  for  it  has  come  and 
death  has  temporarily  passed  us  by. 

Another  objection  made  from  a  purely  emotional  standpoint  is 
that  reincarnation  separates  us  forever  from  those  we  have  loved 
in  this  life.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  truth  than  this, 
for  exactly  the  opposite  occurs.  Reincarnation,  in  common  with 
every  other  phenomenon  in  nature,  proceeds  under  the  law  of  kar- 
ma, or  cause  and  effect,  and  we  ourselves  set  up  the  causes  whose 


OF  THE 


162  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

effects  are  our  rebirth  not  only  in  regard  to  time,  but  also  as  to 
those  with  whom  we  will  find  ourselves  associated.  These  causes 
are  largely,  if  not  wholly,  mental,  and  originate  in  the  acts,  emo- 
tions, and  thoughts  of-  our  daily  life.  They,  therefore,  relate  us 
karmically  to  those  with  whom  we  are  thus  daily  associated,  who 
are  the  subjects  or  objects  of  such  thoughts  or  acts,  and  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  intensity  of  our  feeling  toward  each  of  these,  be 
that  feeling  either  of  love  or  of  hatred.  We  can  not  set  up  causes 
which  will  bind  our  future  life  to  those  whom  we  have  never  met, 
nor  have  even  known  of  mentally.  This  would  be  an  absurd  view 
to  take  of  the  law.  We  are,  therefore,  bound  to  those — and  to 
those  only — with  whom  we  are  most  closely  associated  in  either 
the  bonds  of  love  or  hatred,  for  attraction  and  repulsion  are  but 
opposite  poles  or  modes  of  motion  of  the  same  impersonal  force> 
and  are  of  equal  strength.  Therefore,  the  impersonal  law  of  cause 
and  effect  will  bring  together  those  bound  by  bonds  of  hatred  as 
surely  as  it  will  those  related  by  ties  of  affection.  This  fact  fully 
explains  the  otherwise  inexplicable  appearance  of  a  single  black 
sheep  in  an  otherwise  unblemished  family,  or  those  so-called 
"  unnatural"  hatreds  between  children  and  parents,  or  those  which 
appear  in  any  of  the  closely  related  ties  of  consanguinity. 

The  attraction  thus  set  up  between  individuals  by  their  associa- 
tions and  mental  attitudes  towards  each  other  is  as  potent — and 
as  patent — as  that  which  binds  atoms  into  the  stable  elements,  so 
far  beneath  the  mental  plane.  It  is  but  another  illustration  of  the 
unity  of  law  upon  all  the  planes  of  the  Cosmos.  So  powerful  is 
it  that  it  can  both  draw  souls  to  or  from  material  existence,  else 
its  results  would  of  necessity  fail  in  uniting  those  karmically  bound. 
We  see  its  action  in  taking  souls  from  the  earth  in  those  common 
cases  where  either  the  wife  or  husband  quickly  follows  the  other 
to  the  grave  without  apparent  physiological  reason.  But  more 
notable,  because  more  opposed  to  the  normal  course  of  nature, 
are  the  numerous  instances  where  a  mother's  death  has  been 
followed  by  so  plain  a  loosening  of  its  hold  upon  life  by  her  young 
babe  that  even  ignorant  observers  have  recognized  the  fact  that 
she  was  "  drawing"  it  after  her. 

Of  course,  such  cases  are  exceptions  because  out  of  the  usual 
course  of  nature;  but  they  are  just  those  exceptions  which  prove 
the  rule.  For  in  the  normal  instances  those  associated  would  be 
likely  to  have  subjective  or  devachanic  lives  of  about  the  same 


OBJECTIONS   TO    REINCARNATION.  163 

duration.  Therefore,  if  in  a  group  of  karmically  associated  souls 
one  were  drawn  by  karma  and  the  closing  of  its  subjective  cycle 
to  reincarnate,  the  center  of  attractive  force  thus  transferred  to 
the  material  plane  would  be  amply  powerful  to  draw  to  it  others 
whose  devachanic  cycles  were  also  closing;  and  the  close  union, 
as  in  marriaget,  of  certain  of  these  might  easily  set  up  a  center  of 
attraction  sufficiently  powerful  to  bring  to  a  close  the  Devachan 
of  any  Ego  whose  karma  demanded  its  association  with  such 
Egos  thus  incarnated.  Were  this  not  the  case  a  Devachan 
extending  over  1,500  years  would  eternally  separate,  as  far  as 
material  associations  are  concerned,  an  Ego  from  one  whose 
spiritual  nature  entitled  it  to  but  1,200  years  in  the  same  state, 
however  close  the  ties  of  affection  might  have  been  during  life  on 
earth. 

As  the  length  of  life  upon  the  earth  is  very  greatly  modified  by 
association  with  others,  so  is  Devachan  subject  to  similar  modifi- 
cations. Racial  or  national  karma  may  subject  us  to  a  death  by 
war,  pestilence,  or  famine  which  would  not  have  been  necessitated 
by  our  purely  personal  karma;  and  the  sanitary  conditions  of  com- 
munities, even,  shorten  or  lengthen  the  lives  of  the  units  grouped 
in  such  karmic  relations.  Especially  is  this  so  in  large  cities. 
San  Francisco,  for  instance,  has  a  certain  percentage  of  deaths 
due  entirely  to  corrupt  governments  having  permitted  peculation 
and  dishonest  work  in  its  sewer  system.  Scores  of  lives  are  cut 
short  yearly  as  a  direct  karmic  result  of  this  community  karma. 
On  the  other  hand,  scores  and  hundreds  of  lives  are  lengthened 
by  wise  sanitary  measures — especially  in  times  of  pestilence  or 
epidemics. 

If  life  be  thus  subject  to  modification  on  the  material  plane,  it 
is  also  subject  to  the  same  in  Devachan,  under  the  axiom  that  the 
action  of  any  law  must  be  universal.  It  is  at  least  plain  that  there 
is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  Devachan  to  preclude  the  after  associ- 
ation of  individuals  upon  earth,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  such 
associations  are  certain  to  continue  so  long  as  there  is  any  attrac- 
tion or  repulsion  between  incarnated  souls. 

This — attraction  and  repulsion — is  an  infinitely  wiser  provision 
for  human  happiness  than  any  merely  physical  ties  of  consan- 
guinity. It  ensures  association  so  long  as  we  desire  it;  it  cuts  us 
loose  when  we  have  become  indifferent  to  any  personality — thus 
grouping  souls  by  their  higher  natures  rather  than  upon  a  phys- 


164  A  STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

ical  basis.  Were  the  physical  ties  paramount,  each  child  would 
demand  an  eternal  association  with  its  parents,  they  in  turn  with 
theirs,  and  so  on  back  to  some  antediluvian  ancestor,  for  whom 
the  whole  vast  throng,  except  his  immediate  progeny,  would  feel 
the  most  profound  indifference,  as  they  also  would  for  each  other, 
except  in  a  similar  exceedingly  limited  relation.  But  soul  attrac- 
tion brings  to  each  Ego  its  own;  and  as  each  parent,  for  instance, 
returns  to  incarnation  attracting  to  it  those  children  it  really  loved, 
these  in  turn,  after  paying  their  karmic  debt,  will  attract  their 
beloved,  and  so  the  links  of  human  affection  will  remain  forever 
unbroken  until  indifference  or  development  in  some  new  direction 
severs  all  old  attractions. 

A  further  objection  to  reincarnation,  sometimes  urged,  is  that 
it  is  unjust  for  us  to  suffer  in  this  life  the  consequences  of  acts 
done  in  past  ones  which  we  have  forgotten.  To  answer  this  it  is 
only  necessary  to  point  out  the  absurdity  of  supposing  that  the 
mere  forgetting  of  any  act  or  crime  absolves  one  from  its  conse- 
quences. Under  this  strange  ethical  view,  it  would  be  only  nec- 
essary for  a  murderer  to  forget  the  crime  he  had  committed  to  be 
relieved  from  all  moral  and  legal  responsibility.  Could  he  not 
succeed  in  this  himself  it  would  only  require  that  a  hypnotizer 
should  interpose,  and  the  criminal  thus  made  unconscious  of  his 
crime  could  be  dragged  off  the  very  gallows  itself.  The  law  of 
cause  and  effect  is  impersonal,  and,  as  far  as  we  can  conceive  of 
consciousness,  acts  unconsciously.  Often  physical  diseases  are 
)he  result  of  causes  set  in  action  during  the  unconsciousness  of 
sleep,  yet  the  law  inflicts  the  full  penalty  nevertheless.  But  the 
objection  does  not  really  deserve  the  recognition  of  an  answer. 

All  possible  objections  to  reincarnation  must  likewise  disappear 
under  the  light  of  philosophy  and  logic,  and  it  is  only  necessary 
that  such  objections  be  thus  examined  for  the  proof  that  this  is  an 
universal  factor  in  nature  and  the  method  by  means  of  which  evo- 
lution proceeds  to  dawn  upon  the  mind  as  clearly  and  convincingly 
as  though  one  had  set  himself  deliberately  to  prove  its  truth;  for 
evolution  and  reincarnation  are  but  aspects  of  the  one  eternal 
process  in  nature — infinite  change. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

KARMA. 

jj&ARMA  is  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  acting  upon  all  planes. 
8*  It  is  entirely  impersonal  in  this  action;  and  yet  it  acts 
wisely,  intelligently,  and  equitably,  although  the  source  of  this 
intelligence  and  wisdom  proceeds  from  the  Unknowable.  It  does 
not  reason,  as  we  understand  reasoning,  nor  is  its  wisdom  accom- 
panied by  any  mentality  conceivable  to  human  minds.  Given  a 
cause,  and  its  corresponding  effect  will  follow  inevitably.  Could 
this  law  be  violated  in  but  one  instance,  however  trifling,  the 
whole  universe  would  fall  into  chaos,  like  a  child's  castle  of  cards. 

Descartes  founded  his  famous  system  of  philosophy  upon  the 
postulate,  Cogito,  ergo  sum*  How  much  firmer  a  basis  is  afforded 
for  the  most  profound  conception  of  the  universe  in  this  law  of 
Karma — that  Effect  follows  Cause!  It  is  a  unit  of  measurement 
applicable  to  every  conceivable  point  of  space,  every  atom,  every 
plane  of  being,  every  manifestation  of  consciousness  in  all  this 
illimitable  Cosmos.  Taking  its  source  in  the  Unknowable,  yet 
having  its  action  plainly  perceivable  upon  our  planes  of  life,  it  is 
the  link  which  binds  the  knowable  to  the  Unknowable.  It  is  the 
one  supreme  testimony  of  unity  and  design,  of  intelligence  and 
justice,  in  nature.  Karma  is  but  another  name  for  the  great  Un- 
knowable, CAUSELESS  CAUSE 

Effect  follows  cause  in  the  emergence  of  Cosmos  from  Chaos ; 
in  the  struggle  for  existence  among  the  newly  formed  bodies  of  a 
solar  system;  in  the  "process  of  the  suns"  as  they  wing  their  way 
around  their  inconceivably  vast  orbits ;  in  the  aberrations  of  an 
Uranus,  revealing  the  presence  of  a  Neptune;  in  the  involution 
and  evolution  of  humanities;  in  the  birth,  life,  and  death  of  a  man, 
of  a  molecule,  or  of  a  planetary  system;  in  the  racial,  national,  or 
social  environments  of  the  individual;  in  the  presence  of  evil  and 
injustice  in  the  world;  in  the  intellectual  capacity  of  men;  in  their 
appetites,  passions,  and  desires;  in  their  spiritual  aspirations;  in 
their  diseases  and  vices; — in  short,  in  every  conceivable  juxtapo- 
sition or  combination  of  thought,  act,  or  event,  the  Law  is  absolute ; 

*"I  think;  therefore  I  exist." 


1 66  A   STUDY   OF    THE    SOUL 

Karma,  all-pervading.  As  far  as  the  most  daring  generalizations 
of  the  human  mind  can  reach,  its  sway  is  absolute.  No  excep- 
tion can  be  postulated.  Even  the  CAUSELESS  CAUSE,  the 
final  goal  of  all  rational  philosophies,  seems  to  yield  obeisance  to 
this  law  which  proceeds  out  of  its  own  abysses,  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  universes  would  appear  to  be  only  links  in  an  Infinite 
Cycle  of  Necessity. 

Once  the  universality  of  the  action  of  Karma  is  recognized,  we 
have  a  safe  basis  for  our  future  explorations.  It  is  an  unfailing 
touchstone,  wherewith  we  can  test  the  truth  of  any  proposition, 
whether  religious,  scientific,  or  philosophical.  Its  application  to 
the  problems  of  human  life — to  which,  indeed,  the  term  is  com- 
monly limited — constitutes  the  motive  of  this  chapter.  The 
importance  of  this  phase  of  its  study  cannot  be  overestimated 
when  we  recognize  that  our  whole  life  is  but  a  succession  of 
Nidanas,  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  of  which  each  effect 
becomes  a  cause  in  its  own  turn,  and  so  on,  in  endless  progression. 
No  act,  however  trivial;  no  thought,  however  faint;  no  emotion, 
however  fleeting — but  is  a  cause,  a  bit  of  woof  woven  in  the  warp 
of  our  being,  and  giving  it  color  and  texture.  An  idle  word — how 
often  it  changes  a  whole  life;  a  thoughtless  act,  whose  effects,  or 
karma,  follow  us  to  and  even  beyond  the  grave  !  For  it  is  a  por- 
tion of  this  law  that  while  any  act  or  thought  of  ours  may  have 
its  effect  either  within  us  or  externally  upon  others,  the  reaction, 
which  is  this  effect  become  a  cause  again,  must  expend  itself  upon 
us  individually.  And  it  is  most  difficult  to  judge  of  the  compara- 
tive magnitude  of  the  causes  we  set  in  motion.  A  pebble  thrown 
into  the  ocean  seems  a  trifling  cause,  yet  every  separate  drop  in 
all  the  vast  expanse  of  waters  has  to  readjust  its  relations,  as  a 
direct  and  purely  physical  effect.  And  in  addition  to  this  perma- 
nent readjustment,  the  law  of  reaction,  or  restored  equilibrium, 
requires  every  iota  of  force  thrown  off  by  the  falling  pebble  to  be 
returned  to  its  source.  In  other  words,  the  pebble  has  to  receive 
a  shock  equal  to  that  which  it  set  in  motion.  In  this  simile,  the 
original  cause  would  be  the  falling  pebble;  its  effect,  the  readjust- 
ment of  the  waters  of  the  entire  ocean;  the  reaction,  or  its  per- 
sonal Karma,  the  impulse  of  returning  pressure,  which,  in  relation 
to  it,  has  become  a  cause  again.  In  like  manner,  every  act  or 
thought  of  a  man  affects  as  a  cause  all  other  men  in  some  degree, 
and  this  effect  upon  them  will  be  returned  to  him,  as  a  new  cause, 


KARMA.  167 

modifying  his  being  to  the  extent  of  the  effects  it  originally  pro- 
duced. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  how  impossible  it  is  for  any  one  to  separate 
his  Karma  from  that  of  his  fellow-men.  The  interweaving  and 
correlations  are  necessarily  infinite;  and  naught  but  Infinite  Wis- 
dom, as  embodied  in  the  divine  law  of  Karma,  could  mete  out 
exact  justice  to  us  for  all  the  multiform  deeds  of  a  lifetime.  Isola- 
tion is  a  chimera.  A  Crusoe,  on  a  desert  island,  will  reach  out  to 
and  affect  the  whole  mass  of  humanity;  for  the  pictures  of  his 
acts  and  thoughts,  reflected  in  the  astral  light,  will  be  re-reflected 
upon  the  physical  plane,  and  influence  to  some  degree  the  thought 
of  the  world.  No  man  can  think  a  good  thought  without  the 
whole  of  humanity  being  somewhat  the  better  for  it;  no  man  can 
sin  against  his  higher  nature  without  lowering  the  moral  standard 
of  the  whole  world  to  some  extent. 

This  inevitable  and  necessary  interblen3ing  of  all  our  Karmas 
forms  a  true  and  scientific  basis  for  the  Theosophic  conception  of 
universal  brotherhood — a  reason,  logical  and  necessary,  for  the 
practice  of  altruism.  It  also  affords  an  occasion  for  the  separation 
of  karmic  adjustments  into  classes,  according  as  these  relate  to 
the  individual  himself  or  to  his  immediate  or  remote  environ- 
ments. Thus,  that  aspect  which  views  the  Karma  of  all  the  units 
as  one  great  whole  would  be  termed  world  Karma;  that  which 
relates  one  to  his  race,  his  nation,  his  community,  and  his  family, 
would  be  respectively,  race,  national,  social,  and  family  Karma; 
while  the  comparatively  minute  portion  remaining  would  consti- 
tute his  own,  or  his  individual  Karma.  Yet  this  almost  infini- 
tesimal portion,  this  drop  in  the  sea,  is  that  with  which  we  prin- 
cipally concern  ourselves,  as  the  very  apotheosis  of  selfishness. 
Our  hopes,  our  purification,  our  progress,  seem,  to  our  blinded  eyes, 
of  paramount  importance,  so  subtle  do  vanity  and  self-esteem 
become  when  transmuted  to  higher  planes.  Bereft  of  intelli- 
gence, and  depending  upon  brute  force  alone,  of  how  much  avail 
would  be  the  strength  of  one  man  against  the  united  sinews  of 
his  race,  his  nation,  or  even  against  his  community?  In  exact 
proportion  is  the  ratio  of  his  Karma  to  that  of  his  community,  his 
nation,  or  his  race.  It  is  lost  in  the  great  whole;  it  is  of  account 
only  before  that  tribunal  which  "numbers  the  hairs  upon  our 
heads."  Let  him  who  would  attain  personal  "salvation,"  who 
would  separate  his  Karma  from  that  of  a  wicked,  sinful  race  by 


168  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

retiring  to  the  jungle,  or  within  the  recesses  of  his  own  selfish 
heart,  and  there  practicing  the  most  austere  virtues,  go  out  and 
push  against  the  side  of  a  mountain,  in  the  hope  of  retarding  the 
revolution  of  the  earth  from  West  to  East,  for  the  one  effort  will 
be  of  as  much  avail  as  the  other. 

Are  there  not  thousands  of  men,  whose  personal  Karma  would 
entitle  them  to  be  born  under  conditions  as  delightful  and  just  as 
ever  depicted  by  a  Bellamy,  whose  moral  natures  quiver 
under  the  outrageous  ethics  of  our  social  system  every  hour  of 
their  lives,  yet  who  are  compelled  by  the  national  Karma  which 
overwhelms  them  to  do  the  very  acts  they  loathe;  to  live  by 
taking  the  very  interest,  profit,  or  rent  which  they  abhor  ?  Are 
there  not  tens  of  thousands,  whose  sincere  efforts  in  other  lives  to 
attain  to  truth  would  have  entitled  them  as  units  to  its  revelation, 
who  are  nevertheless  born  in  Christian  or  pagan  lands  where  the 
racial  Karma  offers  only  crude  dogmas  or  childish  creeds  ?  But 
has  the  justice  of  Karma  failed,  then,  because  of  this  seeming 
injustice?  Not  so;  the  efforts  of  these,  even  in  the  direction  of 
truth  and  purity,  have  been  selfish;  they  have  striven  egotistically, 
not  altruistically;  have  worked  for  their  personal  salvation,  not  to 
save  others.  They  have  created  good  personal  Kanna,  and 
Karma  repays  them  to  the  uttermost  farthing,  but  they  have  done 
nothing  to  lighten  the  race  or  national  Karma,  and  they  are 
engulfed  in  its  floods.  It  was  no  chance  thought,  no  accidental 
insertion  of  a  "glittering  generality,"  which  declared  the  first 
object  of  the  Theosophic  Society  to  be  the  formation  of  a  nucleus 
for  an  Universal  Brotherhood.  It  evidences  a  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  the  working  of  the  law  of  Karma  far  transcending 
our  petty  conceptions.  Altruistic  effort  is  the  law  of  spiritual 
progress  because  of  the  commingling  of  our  Karmas;  and  even  in 
selfish  self-preservation,  if  from  no  higher  motive,  we  ought  to 
practice  it.  We  recognize  the  injustice,  the  falsity,  the  hollow- 
ness  of  the  social,  ethical,  and  religious  customs  of  our  time,  yet 
we  accept  them  and  raise  no  protesting  voice,  because  the  whole 
world  is  against  us,  or  we  fancy  it  is.  Can  we  charge  it  to  the 
injustice  of  this  divine  law,  then,  if  our  next  incarnation  find  us 
the  son  of  a  money-changer,  with  the  lust  of  gold  tainting  our 
very  mothers'  milk  ?  If  the  world  is  too  hard  for  us  now,  will  it 
not  be  so  then?  Let  us  exercise  a  little  common  sense  in  our 


KARMA.  169 

study  of  Karma;  let  us  remember  that  it  is  simply  "  cause  and 
effect,"  and  cannot  but  be  just. 

There  is  too  much  of  the  Christian  idea  of  the  entire  separation 
of  earthly  from  heavenly  concerns  abroad  in  the  land.  If  we  find 
this  world  in  a  bad  state  morally  and  ethically,  we  must  logically 
expect  to  find  it  in  a  similar  one  when  we  reincarnate,  especially 
if  we  did  nothing  towards  lightening  the  world  Karma.  Cause 
precedes  effect,  on  all  planes.  Our  first  duty,  to  be  sure,  is  to 
make  ourselves  personally  pure,  because  this  is  always  at  hand, 
and  always  practicable;  our  next,  to  strive  for  the  elevation  of  our 
community,  then  our  state,  our  nation,  our  race;  each  member  of 
which  ascending  series  includes  all  below  it,  so  that  in  working  for 
humanity  we  are  purifying  our  race,  our  nation,  our  community, 
and  ourselves.  And  the  effect  of  the  causes  we  set  up,  or  the 
Karma  we  generate,  is  the  greater  as  we  ascend  the  series  in 
motive.  It  is  this  which  gives  the  thought  and  the  act  force. 
Thought  is  creative,  and  that  which  aims  at  the  elevation  of  the 
race  will  prove  incomparably  more  potent  a  factor  for  good  than 
that  directed  towards  petty  or  selfish  aims. 

We  are  but  as  drops  in  the  great  ocean  of  life.  Our  very  souls 
are  tainted  by  the  saltness  and  bitterness  of  the  floods  about  us. 
The  bitterness  of  the  whole  ocean  can  only  be  removed,  and  its 
waters  made  pleasant  and  sweet,  by  the  sweetening  and  purifica- 
tion of  each  separate  drop.  No  one  can  do  this  for  another,  and 
yet  each  can  only  purify  himself  by  unselfish  work  for  others. 
How  beautifully  grand  is  the  LAW!  What  a  magnificent  stride 
above  and  beyond  the  brute  kingdom,  where  the  Buchners,  Tyn- 
dalls,  Darwins,  and  Huxleys  would  perforce  relegate  us!  The 
law  of  the  animal  kingdom  is  egotism;  the  survival  of  the  fittest; 
the  cruel  struggle  for  existence.  The  law  of  Karma  on  the  human 
plane  is  altruism  and  selflessness,  and  we  must  recognize  it  or 
perish.  For  cause  and  effect  are  at  work  in  higher  states  of  mat- 
ter, employing  subtle  and  unperceived  forces.  The  childhood  of 
our  race  has  passed.  We  are  fast  reaching  our  majority,  where 
we  must  take  control  of  our  own  destinies,  for  weal  or  woe.  No 
longer  the  created,  borne  helplessly  yet  safely  along  the  mighty 
stream  of  evolution,  we  have  become  creators,  and  are  karmically 
responsible  for  that  which  we  create.  Our  mouths  have  learned 
to  voice  the  WORD.  Every  thought  and  act  is  potent  for  good  or 
evil;  the  finer,  "unscientific"  forces  of  nature  yield  obedience 


170  A  STUDY   OF   THE  SOUL. 

and  obeisance,  whether  we  are  aware  of  it  or  not.  It  is  not 
enough  that  we  recognize  the  universal  presence  of  cause  and 
effect,  the  omnipotence  and  omniscience  of  Karma;  we  must  real- 
ize that  we  are  free  to  change  and  direct  this  divine  law,  to  our 
preservation  or  our  destruction.  This  is  a  most  important  aspect 
of  Karma,  which  must  not  be  lost  sight  of.  As  the  whole  Cos- 
mos is  the  thought  of  the  Absolute,  reflected  in  matter,  so  we,  as 
a  part  and  portion  of  that  Absolute,  exercise  and  employ  creative 
potencies  every  hour  of  our  lives.  Shall  we  continue  to  do  this 
ignorantly  and  aimlessly,  or  shall  we  take  a  firm  hold  upon  our 
destinies  and  guide  our  souls  into  the  haven  of  immortality  ?  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  we  must  make  the  decision  soon,  for  we  are  pilgrims 
in  the  cycle  of  necessity;  we  must  go  forward  either  to  safety  or 
destruction.  And  this  is  not  predicated  upon  the  emotionalism 
of  some  wailing  Jeremiah  of  ancient,  or  Buchanan  of  modern 
times;  but  simply  and  entirely  for  the  reason  that  EFFECT  follows 
CAUSE.  One  is  the  upper,  the  other  the  nether  mill-stone  of  fate, 
and  we  are  inextricably  caught  between  them. 

It  will  be  at  once  evident  that,  holding  as  it  does  to  the  abso- 
lute sway  of  cause  and  effect  upon  every  plane  of  the  universe, 
physical,  mental  and  spiritual,  Theosophy  stands  in  irreconcilable 
antagonism  to  the  Christian  dogma  of  vicarious  atonement.  And 
herein  is  the  chief  reason  why  most  Theosophists  refuse  to  ally 
themselves,  even  under  the  name  of  Christian  Theosophists,  with 
the  churches  of  to-day.  They  recognize  fully  that  Christianity  is 
an  humane  and  altruistic  effort  to  improve  the  condition  of  man- 
kind morally  and  spiritually ;  but  this  error  of  the  divinity  of  Christ 
and  his  vicarious  atonement  is  too  basic  in  its  nature,  too  far- 
reaching  in  its  karmic  results,  to  be  passed  over  in  a  silence  which 
might  be  construed  into  acquiescence.  Each  time  that  a  repent- 
ant sinner  is  assured  that  the  effects  of  causes  he  himself  set  in 
operation  can  be  nullified  by  forgiveness  from  any  source,  he  is 
being  taught  an  untruth  which  can  not  but  imperil  the  future 
development  of  his  soul.  Each  time  a  priest  pronounces  absolu- 
tion over  some  terrified  wretch  whom  the  shadow  of  the  gallows, 
perhaps,  has  frightened  into  "repentance"  after  a  long  life  of  self- 
ishness and  crime,  he  assumes  an  authority  and  a  power  which  is 
absolutely  at  variance  with  the  law  to  which  he  owes  his  own 
existence.  The  marked  contrast  between  the  philosophical  doc- 


KARMA.  171 

trine  of  Karma  and  the  dogma  of  vicarious  atonement  has  been 
well  set  forth  l?y  a  recent  writer.*  He  says: 

"There  is  a  wide  gulf  between  the  Buddhist  doctrine  of  Karma  and  the 
Christian  teaching  regarding  the  dispensing  of  reward  and  punishment.  In 
proportion  to  that  difference  the  moral  control  exercised  on  human  actions 
must  differ  in  a  corresponding  degree.  Karma,  according  to  Buddhism  and 
other  Eastern  schools  of  philosophy,  is  an  inviolable,  natural  law,  which  con- 
trols the  lives  of  all  sentient  beings  in  the  Universe,  and  which  in  its  turn  is 
not  governed  by  any  superior  force  or  being.  As  long  as  thoughts  and  actions 
last  so  long  will  their  results,  or  Karma,  prevail.  The  least  thing  moved  in 
space  has  a  certain  effect  on  the  particles  floating  thereon;  the  slightest 
motion  in  water  gives  rise  to  ripple  after  ripple  until  the  force  thereof  is 
expended;  the  gentlest  sound  sends  forth  vibrations  producing  change  some- 
where; and  the  very  smallest  thought  has  also  its  tendency  to  disturb  either 
the  thinker  or  the  object  thought  of.  The  further  such  research  is  extended, 
the  more  will  the  application  of  the  karmic  law  to  human  actions  prove  to  be 
as  true  and  natural  as  are  the  laws  of  attraction  and  gravitation.  Then,  when 
it  is  known  by  man  that  all  his  thoughts  and  actions  have  certain  tangible 
and  perceptible  effects,  and  that  these  effects  have  a  rebounding  tendency,  or 
that  they  remain  registered  in  his  manas  skandha,  to  cleave  to  him  in  what- 
ever condition  he  may  be  hereafter,  a  lasting  and  powerful  impression  of  awe 
and  veneration  must  be  the  natural  result  created  in  his  mind.  He  who  is 
morally  convinced  of  the  inevitable  effect  and  danger  of  certain  thoughts  and 
actions,  and  of  the  reward  which  awaits  him  through  certain  others,  must  be 
more  deeply  impressed  in  mind  than  another  who  entertains  no  such  belief. 
The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  absolution  of  sins  is  a  total  cancellation  of  the 
past — whether  there  be  crimes  of  the  blackest  type  or  not — by  an  act  of 
momentary  repentance,  which  places  the  wretched  moral  leper  on  a  par  with 
the  most  exalted  saint.  It  is  apparent  from  this  fact  that  the  votaries  of 
Christianity  must  rely  more  upon  supernatural  magic  to  ease  themselves  of  a 
life  burden  of  ugly  sins  than  upon  an  uncheckered  course  of  pure,  moral  life. 
If  this  extraordinary  feat  could  be  scientifically  or  otherwise  demonstrated, 
there  are  many  in  these  glowing  Eastern  climes  who  would  readily  embrace 
Christianity." 

The  writer  also  shrewdly  draws  attention  to  the  fact,  empha- 
sized in  the  first  portion  of  this  chapter  in  regard  to  the  separa- 
tion by  Christians  of  earthly  from  heavenly  concerns,  that  we  do 
not  apply  the  doctrine  of  the  remission  of  sins  in  our  treatment 
of  criminals  to  any  very  demoralizing  extent,  and  that  the  effect 

•The  Buddhist. 


A  STUDY   OF  THE  SOUL. 

of  such  an  application  of  the  laws  of  heaven  to  earthly  conditions 
would  be  to  immeasurably  increase  lawlessness  and  crime. 

The  law  of  Karma,  too,  being  impersonal  in  its  action,  solves 
two  of  the  greatest  puzzles  over  which  Christianity  has  pondered 
in  vain.  These  are  the  presence  of  evil  in  a  world  created  by  an 
all-wise  and  all-powerful  Creator,  and  free  will  consistent  with 
omniscient  foreknowledge.  No  Christian  theology  has  ever  sat- 
isfactorily explained  why  an  omnipotent  God  did  not  devise  some 
means  whereby  he  might  save  from  the  eternal  flames  lost  souls 
which  his  omniscient  knowledge  informed  him  would  eventually 
be  eternally  lost.  And  if  God,  from  all  eternity,  knew  a  thing 
would  happen,  then  it  had  to  happen;  and  just  how  this  could  be 
reconciled  with  human  free  will  was  another  of  those  conundrums 
whose  distinguishing  peculiarity  is  that  they  have  no  answer. 

The  Presbyterian  branch,  of  all  the  protesting  churches,  recog- 
nizes the  logical  necessity  which  follows  postulating  both  omnipo- 
tence and  omniscience  of  a  personal  deity,  and  boldly  avows  its 
belief  in  predestination,  or  fatalism.  As  quoted  from  J.  H.  Con- 
nelly, in  the  Key  to  Theosophy>  their  Confession  of  Faith  declares: 

"By  the  decree  of  God  and  for  the  manifestation  of  his  glory,  some  men 
and  angels  are  predestinated  unto  everlasting  life,  and  others  foreordained  to 
everlasting  death. 

11  These  angels  and  men  thus  predestinated  and  foreordained  are  particularly 
and  unchangeably  designed;  and  their  number  is  so  certain  and  definite  that 
it  cannot  be  either  increased  or  diminished.  .  .  As  God  hath  appointed 
the  elect  to  glory,  neither  are  any  other  redeemed  by  Christ,  effectually  called, 
justified,  adopted,  and  sanctified  and  saved,  but  the  elect  only. 

"  The  rest  of  mankind  God  was  pleased,  according  to  the  unsearchable 
counsel  of  his  own  will,  whereby  he  extendeth  or  withholdeth  mercy  as  he 
pleaseth,  for  the  glory  of  his  sovereign  power  over  his  creatures,  to  pass  by  and 
to  ordain  them  to  dishonor  and  wrath  for  their  sin  to  the  praise  of  his  glori- 
ous justice!" 

This  is  not  the  ravings  of  some  hypochondriacal,  half-insane 
prophet;  it  is  a  part  of  the  PRESBYTERIAN  CONFESSION  OF 
FAITH,  and  is  accepted  to-day  by  a  very  large  class  of  intelligent, 
educated,  and  refined  gentlemen  and  loving,  lovable  women,  who 
would  no  more  do  that  which  they  declare  their  God  does,  daily 
and  hourly,  than  they  would  transform  themselves  into  fiends. 
It  is  the  inevitable  and  logical  outcome  of  a  belief  whose  very 
foundations  are  laid  in  error. 


KARMA.  173 

Is  Presbyterianism  alone  in  its  attributing  injustice  to  God 
which  it  would  deem  barbarous  and  unfeeling  in  man  ?  By  no 
means.  No  human  bar  of  justice,  imperfect  as  is  the  attribute  in 
our  breasts  in  its  present  stage  of  development,  would  ever  doom 
any  one  to  the  pangs  of  ETERNAL  perdition  and  suffering  for  any 
act,  however  dreadful  or  cruel.  But  all  Christian  sects,  without 
exception,  send  comparatively  innocent  souls  to  this  eternal 
damnation  for  simply  being  unable  to  believe  in  and  accept  this 
awful  Jehovah  whom  they  have  set  up  for  worship.  In  his  pro- 
fession as  a  physician,  the  writer  has,  time  and  again,  known  little 
infants,  which  some  unforeseen  accident  deprived  of  life  before 
receiving  baptism,  refused  burial  in  "  sanctified"  ground  by  the 
great  Catholic  Church  and  condemned  to  the  woes  of  eternal  tor- 
ment on  account  of  this  omission — a  little  water  sprinkled  on  an 
unconscious  infant  deciding  its  eternal  destiny!  What  a  concep- 
tion of  the  philosophy  of  existence  the  believers  in  such  dogmas 
must  have!  African  fetich  worship  is  more  reasonable.  But  how 
can  any  system  of  faith  or  philosophy  arrive  at  reasonable  or 
logical  conclusions  whose  very  base  is  founded  in  untruth  and 
error?  Like  a  mariner  whose  compass  is  untrue,  and  who,  there- 
fore, only  deviates  the  more  the  farther  he  sails,  so  Christian 
creeds,  being  founded  in  error,  can  only  hope  to  increase  their 
separation  from  truth  the  farther  they  pursue  any  train  of  explan- 
ation or  reasoning. 

Let  it  be  understood,  once  for  all,  that  by  Christianity,  through- 
out this  chapter,  the  writer  refers  to  the  modern  creeds  parading 
under  this  falsely  assumed  title.  The  teachings  of  the  Essenes, 
of  whom  Christ  was  one,  are  eminently  theosophic  in  many  par- 
ticulars; and  both  Christ  and  Paul  taught,  as  we  have  undoubted 
reason  for  believing,  pure  Theosophy  to  an  inner  circle  of  disciples. 
Only  to  the  multitude  "  spake  he  in  parables."  Christ  was  con- 
tinually referring  to  the  god  within  him,  his  "  Father,"  which,  by 
implication  at  least,  he  taught  his  disciples  that  they  also 
possessed,  for  "  the  things  that  I  do  shall  ye  do  also,  and  greater 
because  I  go  to  my  Father."  But  he  nowhere  refers  to  himself 
as  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  as  the  purely  personal  egotism 
of  his  latter-day  followers  has  led  them  to  assume. 

There  is  no  place,  then,  in  Theosophy  for  the  vicarious  atone- 
ment, or  the  setting  aside  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  which  is  the 
very  soul  of  the  Christian  creeds  of  to-day.  Justice  is  not  mocked 


174  A  STUDY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

by  an  impossible  and  unphilosophical  "  forgiveness"  whose  sole 
essential  is  repentance.  As  well  might  a  dyke  repent  that  it  had 
burst  and  let  in  the  sea.  Repentance  itself  too  often  consists  of 
a  feeling  of  fear  of  the  consequence  of  our  act,  rather  than  a  real 
regret  for  what  we  have  done.  As  J.  H.  Connelly  further  remarks: 

"The  sinner  is  told  that  he  must  also  repent,  but  nothing  is  easier  than  that. 
It  is  an  amiable  weakness  of  human  nature  that  we  are  quite  prone  to  regret 
the  evil  we  have  done  when  our  attention  is  called,  and  we  have  either  suf- 
fered fiom  it  ourselves  or  enjoyed  its  fruits.  Possibly,  close  analysis  of  the 
feeling  would  show  us  that  which  we  regret  is  rather  the  necessity  which 
seemed  to  require  the  evil  as  a  means  of  attainment  of  our  selfish  ends  than 
the  evil  itself. 

"  Attractive  as  this  prospect  of  casting  our  sins  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  may 
be  to  the  ordinary  mind,  it  does  not  commend  itself  to  the  theosophic  stu- 
dent. He  does  not  apprehend  why  the  student  by  attaining  knowledge  of 
his  evil  can  thereby  merit  any  pardon  for  or  the  blotting  out  of  his  past  wick- 
edness; or  why  repentance  and  future  right  living  entitle  him  to  a  suspension 
in  his  favor  of  the  universal  law  of  relation  between  cause  and  effect.  The 
results  of  his  evil  deeds  continue  to  exist;  the  suffering  caused  to  others  by 
his  wickedness  is  not  blotted  out.  The  theosophical  student  takes  the  result 
of  wickedness  upon  the  innocent  into  his  problem.  He  considers  not  only 
the  guilty  person,  but  his  victims. 

"  Karma,  also,  rewards  merit  as  unerringly  as  it  punishes  demerit.  It  is  the 
outcome  of  every  act,  thought,  word,  and  deed;  and  by  it  men  mould  them- 
selves, their  lives  and  happenings.  Eastern  philosophy  rejects  the  idea  of  a 
newly-created  soul  for  every  baby  born.  It  believes  in  a  limited  number  of 
monads,  evolving  and  growing  more  and  more  perfect  through  their  assimila- 
tion of  many  successive  personalities.  These  personalities  are  the  product  of 
Karma,  and  it  is  by  Karma  and  reincarnation  that  the  human  monad  in  time 
returns  to  its  source — absolute  Deity." 

Karma  is  inextricably  interwoven  with  reincarnation.  With- 
out the  latter,  it  would  be  impossible  to  assume,  at  least  in  human 
affairs,  that  cause  is  invariably  followed  by  effect.  The  many 
murderers  who  escape  detection,  the  hordes  of  those  who  grow 
rich  through  robbing  the  poor,  the  whole  tendency  of  an  age 
where  honesty  is  not  the  best  policy  if  one  would  win  »in  the  mad 
race  for  wealth — all  show  but  too  plainly  that  one  life  is  too  short 
for  exact  justice  to  be  meted  out  to  any  one.  But,  "  though  the 
mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly,  yet  they  grind  exceedingly  small," 
and  there  is  no  more  beautiful  or  more  hope-inspiring  aspect  of 


KARMA.  175 

Karma  than  this  which  shows  it  capable  of  biding  its  time.  Its 
eternal  patience  must  seem  awful  to  him  who  is  waiting  his  turn 
at  the  mill.  There  is  no  escape.  A  wheat  kernel  has  been 
known  to  lie  thousands  of  years  in  the  wrappings  of  a  mummy, 
and  then  germinate  upon  being  restored  to  warmth  and  moisture. 
This  is  the  key  to  and  the  proof  of  that  which  we  term  delayed 
Karma.  Desire  is  the  most  potent  of  all  forces,  and  we  may  be 
assured  that  the  attractions  for  evil  things  generated  by  the  usurer 
or  murderer  will  prove  causes  which  will  find  the  conditions  for 
becoming  effects  in  some  future  birth.  So  the  evil  which  we 
uncomplainingly  suffer  now  will  be  recompensed  to  the  utmost  in 
some  bright  and  beautiful,  though  it  may  be  far-off,  life.  What 
is  time  to  the  heir  of  eternity  !  Thus  the  everlasting  patience  of 
Karma  assures  us  that  no  effort  we  make  can  be  without  its  ulti- 
mate reward ;  that  no  wrong  we  inflict  can  escape  final  punishment. 

In  closing  this  brief  chapter  upon  a  subject  that  volumes  would 
leave  unexhausted,  we  can  do  no  better  than  to  quote  from  the 
Teacher  to  whom  the  Western  world  is  indebted  for  this  revival 
of  an  almost  forgotten  truth.  In  the  Secret  Doctrine,  Madame 
Blavatsky  writes: 

"Yes;  'our  destiny  is  written  in  the  stars!'  Only  the  closer  the  union 
between  the  mortal  reflection,  MAN,  and  his  celestial  PROTOTYPE,  the  less 
dangerous  the  external  conditions  and  subsequent  reincarnations — which 
neither  Buddhas  nor  Christs  can  escape.  This  is  not  superstition;  least  of  all 
is  it  fatalism.  The  latter  implies  a  blind  course  of  some  still  blinder  power, 
and  man  is  a  free  agent  during  his  stay  on  earth  .  .  .  Those  who  believe  in 
Karma  have  to  believe  in  destiny,  which,  from  birth  to  death,  every  man  is 
weaving,  thread  by  thread,  around  himself,  as  a  spider  does  his  cobweb;  and 
this  destiny  is  guided  either  by  the  heavenly  voice  of  the  invisible  prototype 
outside  of  us,  or  by  our  more  intimate  astral,  or  inner  man,  who  is  but  too 
often  the  evil  genius  of  the  embodied  entity  called  man.  Both  these  lead  on 
the  outward  man,  but  one  of  them  must  prevail;  and  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  invisible  affray,  the  stern  and  implacable  law  of  compensation  steps  in 
and  takes  its  course,  faithfully  following  the  fluctuations.  When  the  last 
strand  is  woven  and  man  is  seemingly  enwrapped  in  the  network  of  his  own 
doing,  then  he  finds  himself  completely  under  the  empire  of  this  self-made 
destiny  .  .  .  There  is  no  return  from  the  paths  Karma  cycles  over;  yet  these 
paths  are  of  our  own  making,  for  it  is  we,  collectively  or  individually,  who 
prepare  them.  Karma-Nemesis  is  the  synonym  of  PROVIDENCE,  minus 
design,  goodness  and  every  other  finite  attribute  or  qualification,  so  unphilo- 


I?6  A  STUDY   OF  THE   SOUL. 

sophically  attributed  to  the  latter.  An  Occultist  or  a  philosopher  will  not 
speak  of  the  goodness  nor  cruelty  of  providence,  but,  identifying  it  with 
Karma-Nemesis,  he  will  teach  that  nevertheless  it  guards  the  good  and 
watches  over  them  in  this,  as  in  future  lives;  and  that  it  punishes  the  evil 
doer — aye,  even  to  his  seventh  re-birth.  So  long,  in  short,  as  the  effect  of  his 
having  thrown  into  perturbation  even  the  smallest  atom  in  the  infinite  world 
of  harmony,  has  not  been  finally  readjusted.  For  the  only  decree  of  Karma — 
an  eternal  and  immutable  decree — is  absolute  harmony  in  the  world  of  matter 
as  it  is  in  the  world  of  spirit.  It  is  not,  therefore,  Karma  which  rewards  or 
punishes,  but  it  is  we  who  reward  and  punish  ourselves  according  to  whether 
we  work  with,  through,  and  along  with  nature,  abiding  by  the  laws  on  which 
that  harmony  depends,  or — break  them. 

"Nor  would  the  ways  of  Karma  be  inscrutable  were  men  to  work  in  union 
and  harmony  instead  of  disunion  and  strife.  For  our  ignorance  of  these 
ways — which  one  portion  of  mankind  calls  the  ways  of  Providence,  dark  and 
intricate,  while  another  sees  in  them  the  action  of  blind  fatalism,  and  a  third, 
simple  chance,  with  neither  gods  nor  devils  to  guide  them — would  surely  dis- 
appear, if  we  would  but  attribute  all  these  to  their  correct  cause  .  .  .  With 
right  knowledge  *  *  two-thirds  of  the  world's  evil  would  vanish  into  thin 
air.  Were  no  man  to  hurt  his  brother,  Karma-Nemesis  would  have  neither 
cause  to  work,  nor  weapons  to  act  through.  It  is  the  constant  presence  in  our 
midst  of  every  element  of  strife  and  opposition,  and  the  division  of  races, 
nations,  tribes,  societies  and  individuals  into  Cains  and  Abels,  wolves  and 
lambs,  that  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  ways  of  Providence.  We  cut  these 
numerous  windings  in  our  destinies  daily  with  our  own  hands,  while  we 
imagine  that  we  are  pursuing  a  track  on  the  royal  high  road  of  respectability 
and  duty,  and  then  complain  of  these  ways  being  so  intricate  and  dark.  We 
stand  bewildered  before  the  mystery  of  our  own  making,  and  the  riddles  of 
life  that  we  will  not  solve,  and  then  we  accuse  the  great  Sphynx  of  devouring 
us.  But,  verily,  there  is  not  an  accident  of  our  lives,  nor  a  mishappen  day, 
nor  a  misfortune  that  could  not  be  traced  back  to  our  own  doings  in  this  or 
another  life. 

"The  law  of  Karma  is  inextricably  interwoven  with  that  of  Reincarnation 
.  .  .  It  is  only  this  doctrine  that  can  explain  the  mysterious  problem  of  good 
and  evil,  and  reconcile  man  to  the  terrible  and  apparent  injustice  of  life. 
Nothing  but  such  certainty  can  quiet  our  revolted  sense  of  justice.  For,  when 
one  acquainted  with  the  noble  doctrine  looks  around  him  and  observes  the 
inequalities  of  birth  and  fortune,  of  intellect  and  capacities;  when  one  sees 
honor  paid  to  fools  and  profligates,  on  whom  fortune  has  heaped  her  favors 
by  mere  privilege  of  birth,  and  their  nearest  neighbor,  with  all  his  intellect 


KARMA.  177 

and  noble  virtues — far  more  deserving  in  every  way — perishing  for  want  and 
for  lack  of  sympathy; — when  one  sees  all  this  and  has  to  turn  away,  helpless 
to  relieve  the  undeserved  suffering,  one's  ears  ringing  and  one's  heart  aching 
with  the  cries  of  pain  around  him,  that  blessed  knowledge  of  Karma  alone 
prevents  him  from  cursing  life  and  men  as  well  as  their  supposed  Creator. 
This  law,  whether  conscious  or  unconscious,  predestines  nothing  and  no  one. 
It  exists  from  and  in  eternity  truly,  for  it  is  eternity  itself;  and  as  such,  since 
no  act  can  be  co-equal  with  eternity,  it  cannot  be  said  to  act,  for  it  is  action 
itself.  It  is  not  the  wave  which  drowns  the  man,  but  the  personal  action  of 
the  wretch  who  goes  deliberately  and  places  himself  under  the  impersonal 
action  of  the  laws  that  govern  the  ocean's  motion.  Karma  creates  nothing, 
nor  does  it  design.  It  is  man  who  plants  and  creates  causes,  and  karmic  law 
adjusts  the  effects,  which  adjustment  is  not  an  act  but  universal  harmony 
tending  ever  to  resume  its  original  position,  like  a  bough  which,  bent  down 
too  forcibly,  rebounds  with  corresponding  vigor.  If  it  happen  to  dislocate  the 
arm  that  tried  to  bend  it  out  of  its  natural  position,  shall  we  say  it  is  the 
bough  which  broke  our  arm,  or  that  our  own  folly  has  brought  us  to  grief? 
Karma  has  never  sought  to  destroy  intellectual  and  individual  liberty,  like 
the  god  invented  by  the  monotheists.  It  has  not  involved  its  decrees  in  dark- 
ness purposely  to  perplex  man,  nor  shall  it  punish  him  who  dares  to  scrutinize 
its  mysteries.  On  the  contrary,  he  who  unveils,  through  study  and  medita- 
tion, its  intricate  paths,  and  throws  light  on  those  dark  ways,  in  the  windings 
of  which  so  many  men  perish  owing  to  their  ignorance  of  the  labyrinth  of  life, 
is  working  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men.  Karma  is  an  absolute  and  eternal 
law  in  the  world  of  manifestation ;  and  as  there  can  only  be  one  absolute,  one 
eternal,  ever-present  cause,  believers  in  Karma  cannot  be  regarded  as  atheists 
or  materialists,  still  less  as  fatalists,  for  Karma  is  one  with  the  Unknowable, 
of  which  it  is  an  aspect,  in  its  effects  in  the  phenomenal  world." 

The  confusion  of  Karma  with  predestination  or  fatalism  can 
easily  be  avoided  by  remembering  that  our  Karma  is  predestined 
to  the  extent  that  we  must  experience  the  effects  of  causes  we 
have  set  up  in  past  lives,  only.  Yet,  even  while  suffering,  this 
effect  changes  into  a  new  cause,  according  to  our  mental  attitude 
towards  it.  Thus  he  who  has  been  sent  by  deeds  done  in  past 
lives  into  a  diseased  body,  by  his  fortitude  in  bearing  this  just 
effect  of  his  own  acts  can  rise  on  the  "stepping-stones  of  his  dead 
self  to  higher  things";  while,  by  rebellion  and  railings  against 
what  he  is  pleased — or  taught — to  call  "  fate,"  he  enacts  new 
causes  whose  effects  can  but  be  unfavorable. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ETHICAL   CONCLUSIONS. 

'HE  truth  of  the  reincarnation  of  the  human  soul  carries  with  it 
as  necessary  corollaries  most  important  ethical  conclusions. 
It  establishes  a  philosophic  and  legitimately  scientific  basis  for 
human  conduct — something  that  the  world  has  not  had  since  the 
perversion  of  the  teachings  of  Christ,  during  the  second  and  third 
centuries  of  this  era.  Even  at  that  time  the  real  gnosis  underly- 
ing Christ's  tenets  was  only  trusted  in  the  hands  of  an  inner  circle 
of  disciples,  and  by  no  means  given  to  the  world  at  large.  "  Cast 
not  your  pearls  before  swine,"  taught  this  Master,  which  reserva- 
tion may  have  afforded  the  very  opportunity  for  perversion  by 
prohibiting  the  giving  out  of  the  real  truth  when  erroneous  teach- 
ings began  to  creep  in  through  the  ignorance  of  the  Church 
Fathers.  Certainly,  not  within  the  records  of  modern  history  has 
there  been  such  an  unveiling  of  Isis,  such  light  thrown  upon  the 
problems  of  human  life,  as  in  the  writings  of  Madame  H.  P. 
Blavatsky,  which  goes  to  prove  that  human  necessity  must  have 
been  very  urgent  for  the  Custodians  of  the  Archaic  Wisdom  to 
have  permitted  this  profuse  giving  out  of  sacred  and  secret 
teachings. 

At  any  rate,  enough  light  has  been  thrown  upon  man's  relation 
to  his  fellow-men  and  to  nature  to  afford  a  sound  basis  for  human 
ethics.  As  a  part  of  the  great  Whole,  as  an  emanation  from  a 
higher  Logos,  and  constituting  himself  a  lower  one,  a  knowledge 
of  these  relations  is  of  infinite  importance  in  its  determining 
influence  upon  not  only  his  highest  hopes,  aspirations  and  ambi- 
tions, but  also  upon  his  every  thought  and  act  in  his  daily  life. 
Knowing  this  life  to  be  but  a  school  for  preparing  him  for  a  higher 
and  happier  one,  and  that  this  happier  existence  cannot  be  attained 
by  any  sycophantic  adulation,  cajoling  of  or  forgiveness  by  an 
imaginary  Jehovah,  but  must  be  won  under  the  iron  law  of  cause 
and  effect;  and,  further,  that,  like  pupils  in  our  public  schools,  he 
will  be  kept  in  this  grade  of  sin  and  suffering  by  continually  re- 
incarnating until  he  himself  earns  his  promotion  to  a  higher  one — 
man  cannot  but  begin  to  examine  his  motives  more  closely,  to 


ETHICAL   CONCLUSIONS. 

pay  some  attention  to  the  debtor  and  creditor  account  of  a  karma 
as  accurate  as  it  is  inevitable. 

Under  the  short-sighted  Western  conception  of  but  one  exist- 
ence upon  this  earth,  the  numerous  and  grossly  palpable  failures 
in  justice,  in  human  affairs,  have  exerted  a  most  pernicious  influ- 
ence upon  human  ethics.  Solomon,  indeed,  declared  that  he  had 
never  "seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging  bread"; 
but  the  very  reverse  obtains  under  our  social  system,  in  which,  as 
caustically  remarked  by  Madame  Blavatsky,  we  have  made  of  vice 
an  art  and  of  selfishness  a  basis  for  ethics.  We  loudly  claim  that 
41  honesty  is  the  best  policy,"  while  thousands  of  millionaires  who 
have  come  dishonestly  by  every  penny  of  their  hoards  not  only 
go  down  to  peaceful  and  honored  graves,  but  with  the  assurance — 
signed,  sealed,  executed,  and  the  "cash"  equivalent  receipted  for — 
of  eternal  happiness  in  the  future. 

Under  the  broader  view,  all  these  apparent  failures  in  justice 
are  recognized  as  only  apparent,  and  not  real;  human  self-respect 
is  restored;  and  the  intuitive  belief  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy, 
obscured  by  the  one-life  horizon,  becomes  magnificently  demon- 
strated as  these  horizons  are  seen  to  stretch  away  into  an  infinite 
perspective.  Recognizing  that  we  ourselves  have  made  the  bitter 
present  by  an  unwise  past,  that  we  have  not  been  unjustly  and 
causelessly  born  into  this  sphere  of  existence  the  helpless  victims 
of  fate  or  of  accident,  we  can  set  ourselves  cheerfully  to  right  by 
the  light  of  the  broader  conception,  environments,  both  physical 
and  mental,  which  we  know  to  be  but  the  meting  out  of  exact 
and  impersonal  justice  to  us.  By  the  light  of  Reincarnation  and 
Karma,  we  perceive  that  the  social  injustices  with  which  our  civil- 
ization is  now  cursed  are  rooted  too  deeply  to  be  plucked  out  by 
merely  changing  our  laws.  Human  desires  and  motives  must  be 
radically  changed,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  making  man 
aware  of  his  true  nature  and  god-like  destiny.  Then  he  will  rec- 
ognize that  all  the  evils  which  now  threaten  to  engulf  humanity 
in  a  sea  of  anarchy  and  bloodshed  arise  wholly  out  of  yielding  to 
the  dominance  of  the  animal  portion  of  his  being — are  on  the  ani- 
mal plane;  and  that  all  appeals  to  force  or  violence  can  only 
still  further  arouse  and  strengthen  those  brutal  elements,  to  con- 
trol and  spiritualize  which  is  the  chief  reason  for  incarnation  upon 
this  earth.  Social  and  political  reform  must  proceed,  like  every 
other  process  in  nature,  from  within  without;  and  when  the  inner 


l8o  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

desire  to  act  justly  shall  have  arisen,  the  outer  act  will  quickly 
conform.  Meanwhile,  no  effort  to  show  the  real  unity  and  solid- 
arity of  humanity  is  of  as  great  importance  as  the  popularizing  of 
the  teachings  of  Reincarnation,  which  distinguishes  the  true  man 
and  his  necessities  from  the  false  one  with  his  illusionary  ambi- 
tions, and  Karma,  which  shows  that  social  as  well  as  all  other 
evolution  takes  place  under  the  law  of  cause  and  effect,  and  cannot 
but  act  justly. 

Aside  from  social  and  political  considerations,  the  twin  truths 
of  Reincarnation  and  Karma,  when  once  clearly  comprehended, 
satisfy  the  religious  element  which  is,  or  ought  to  be,  so  deeply 
engrafted  in  every  human  heart.  It  has  been  well  and  truly  said 
that  "  religion  is  for  the  wise,  and  superstition  for  the  ignorant"; 
and  within  these  teachings  only  is  to  be  found  that  food  which 
will  supply  the  need  of  rational  and  philosophical  men  for  a  scien- 
tific and  philosophical  religion.  Therefore,  from  the  religious 
standpoint,  this  inquiry  into  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  soul 
is  amply  justified.  Blind  faith  alone  fails ;  creeds  are  but  idle  pat- 
terings  and  empty  sounds;  man  must  know  his  destiny,  or  the 
incentive  to  upward  exertion  is  largely  paralyzed.  Reason  teaches 
us  that  death  cannot  transport  us  where  we  are  not  now;  cannot 
act  as  a  kind  of  moral  filter,  that  in  some  miraculous  way  will 
remove  the  impurities  of  our  lower  nature,  and  fit  us  for  habita- 
tion in  some  high  or  "  heavenly"  sphere,  nor,  failing  this,  trans- 
port us  to  some  inconceivably  horrible  hell.  The  chain  of  life  is 
formed  of  continuous  links.  We  have  become  what  we  are  by 
an  infinite  series  of  past  lives;  we  have  to  work  out  our  future 
destiny  by  an  infinite  series  of  lives  to  come.  Here,  where  we 
are  struggling  in  the  bonds  of  matter,  is  our  only  "  hell,"  the  law 
of  cause  and  effect  our  sole  punisher,  and  "  heaven"  our  release 
from  sensuous  existence  either  temporarily  by  death,  or  wholly, 
through  our  evolving  beyond  sensuous  necessities.  The  warning 
voice  of  conscience  is  but  the  voice  of  our  Higher  Ego,  speaking 
as  the  result  of  actual  experience  and  wisdom.  And  because  the 
seat  of  conscience  is,  of  necessity,  in  the  Higher  Ego,  it  there- 
fore seems  to  us  as  though  it  came  from  some  outside  source, 
when  it  is  in  reality  our  true  self,  vainly  endeavoring  to  guide 
and  control  the  coarse  and  unwieldly  physical  machine,  to  which  it 
finds  itself  karmically  attached,  and  with  which  it  is  therefore  so 
closely  inter-related  that  the  one  must  ever  react  upon  the  other. 


ETHICAL   CONCLUSIONS.  l8l 

Out  of  this  action  and  reaction  grows  the  real  battle  of  life,  the 
tide  turning  now  this  way  and  now  that.  Knowing  all  this,  man 
will  rest  secure  in  the  Divine  law  of  cause  and  effect,  which  neither 
punishes  nor  rewards,  but  wisely,  justly,  and  inexorably  adjusts 
each  cause  to  its  corresponding  effect.  Knowing  himself  to  be  the 
arbiter  of  his  own  destiny,  he  will  cease  to  complain;  cease  to 
attribute  his  sorrows  and  sufferings  to  the  ways  of  a  mysterious 
providence;  and,  recognizing  that  nothing  has  come  nor  can  come 
to  him  which  is  not  his  own  by  virtue  of  having  created  or  caused 
it,  he  will  begin  the  warfare  against  his  lower  nature  with  a  strength 
of  purpose  and  determination  to  succeed  impossible  before  this 
realization.  The  worlds,  the  stars,  and  suns  will  no  longer  be 
created  solely  for  him,  but  rather  he  for  them.  Even  the  strife 
in  nature,  the  cruel  struggle  for  existence,  will  not  seem  so  dread- 
ful when  he  realizes  that  nothing  is  really  slain ;  that  "  he  who 
slays  and  he  who  thinks  himself  slain  are  alike  deceived."  Nor 
will  he  longer  trust  to  forms  and  creeds,  but  instead  will  retire  to 
the  inner  chamber  of  his  own  heart  and  worship  silently  that  which 
is  equally  at  the  basis  of  his  soul  as  it  is  at  the  base  of  the  flower 
or  stone — the  Unknowable,  Inconceivable  Causeless  Cause. 

Realizing  through  these  teachings  the  actual,  dynamic  brother- 
hood of  mankind;  that  the  fall  of  one  proportionately  hurts  and 
retards  the  advancement  of  the  race ;  and  that  the  attainment  of 
the  goal  of  assured  immortality  by  but  one  faithful,  unselfish,  sac- 
rificing soul  shortens  in  some  degree  the  weary  path  to  be  trod 
by  his  brother  men — he  will  merge  all  merely  selfish  longings  in 
the  realization  of  the  help  to  others  thus  afforded  by  his  own  toil, 
and  patiently  and  tranquilly  work  for  Humanity,  unterrified  by 
life  and  undismayed  by  death. 

Rightly  comprehended,  then,  Reincarnation  comes  to  us  as  a 
message  of  hope,  of  love,  and  of  Divine  encouragement.  To  those 
who  so  pitifully  cling  to  youth  and  the  pleasures  of  the  young,  it 
holds  the  promise  of  renewed  youth,  life  after  life.  To  him  who 
has  been  conquered  in  the  battle  of  life,  it  offers  other  opportuni- 
ties for  further  and  more  efficient  battling.  To  all  it  promises 
that  no  effort  shall  be  lost,  nor  without  its  reward;  that  the  aspir- 
ations unable  to  be  realized  now  shall  find  full  fruition  then;  that 
the  very  loved  ones  of  this  life,  so  rudely  torn  from  us  by  death, 
will  be  again  attracted  by  and  drawn  to  us  in  our  next  earth-life, 
to  renew  the  interrupted  associations. 


182  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

But  the  great,  the  all-important  lesson  Reincarnation  teaches  is 
that  our  powers  are  infinite,  our  opportunities  eternal,  and  our 
goal  god-like.  Our  progress  is  illimitable,  and  death  but  a  brief 
rest  in  a  wayside  inn,  as  we  journey  along.  After  each  death, 
upon  reincarnating,  we  take  up  our  earth  lite  at  the  precise  point 
we  laid  it  aside;  thus  ever  increasing  our  wisdom  through  contin- 
uous experience.  A  perfect  knowledge  of  earth  limitations 
requires,  as  we  have  seen,  that  each  man  should  undergo  every 
possible  phase  of  human  experience ;  should  subdue  every  variety 
of  human  passion,  and  resist  every  form  of  temptation.  Only  by 
reincarnation  is  it  possible  to  do  this ;  to  round  out  and  develope 
patience,  fortitude,  pity,  benevolence,  and  a  host  of  other  god-like 
attributes;  all  of  which  have  to  be  refined  out  of  the  crucible  of 
actual  experience  and  suffering.  One  life  is  all  too  short  for  the 
lessons  of  sympathy  and  love  we  have  to  learn,  ere  we  develope 
compassion  for  the  woes  of  others  from  the  fires  of  our  own  puri- 
fication, from  the  ashes  of  our  sacrificed  passions.  One  life  is  all 
too  short  for  us  even  to  approximate  that  condition  of  spirituality 
which  would  permit  us  to  exist  for  a  moment  on  planes  where 
earthly  concerns  and  desires  are  utterly  unknown.  After  the 
great  deep  had  brought  forth  life  in  its  waters,  it  took  ages  for 
the  water-breathing  vertebrates  to  so  accustom  themselves  to  the 
purer,  rarer  air  that  life  in  its  thin  gases  became  possible  for  them. 
So  with  man's  spiritual  nature.  How  absurd,  how  impossible,  to 
fancy  him  as  capable  of  living  under  spiritual  conditions  before 
he  has  developed  the  spiritual  power!  He  must  conquer  every 
earthly  passion,  subdue  every  mortal  desire,  and  keenly  realize 
the  unsatisfying  nature,  the  instability,  of  material  life,  before  he 
can  hope  to  attain  to  the  life  spiritual.  At  present  man  is  little 
more  than  a  savage  in  his  instincts,  appetites,  and  passions.  Let 
him  first  become  a  MAN,  with  all  the  magnificent  meaning  and 
prophecy  in  the  word,  before  he  aspires  to  the  Elysean  fields  of 
the  Gods.  Yet  these  fields  are  surely  his,  both  by  birthright  and 
as  the  meed  of  toil  and  suffering,  if  he  but  persist  in  the  warfare, 
if  he  but  prove  faithful  to  the  one  talent  placed  in  his  keeping 
during  this  life;  renewing  his  courage  and  hope  in  the  knowledge 
that  greater  and  still  greater  opportunities  will  be  afforded  him  in 
future  lives  by  the  return  of  his  soul  to  earth  through  the  golden 
gate  of  REINCARNATION. 


APPENDIX  A. 

BEINCABNATION  AS  APPLIED  TO  THE  SEX  PROBLEM.* 

THE  differentiation  of  sex,  as  seen  in  the  Vegetable,  Animal,  and  Human 
kingdoms,  at  a  first  glance  might  seem  to  be  only  a  method  adopted  by 
Nature  to  ensure  the  perpetuation  of  form  and  the  preservation  of  species. 
Traced  from  the  apparently  asexual  cell  up  through  all  the  slight  variations 
of  form  and  function  with  which  it  is  associated,  it  culminates  in  the  human 
race  in  two  distinctly  marked  types  of  character,  in  which  the  merely  physio- 
logical question  of  procreation  has  become  of  secondary  importance.  We  are 
therefore  compelled  to  look  more  deeply  into  the  problem,  and  in  doing  so  it 
is  quickly  seen  that  sex  is  but  an  example  of  that  mysterious  Duality  in  Unity 
which  is  at  the  basis  of  all  differentiation,  and  hence  of  all  manifestation  in 
the  universe. 

This  Duality  in  Unity  which  makes  philosophically  conceivable  the  neces- 
sary postulate  that  everything  in  the  universe  is  resolvable  into  an  ultimate, 
absolute  Unity—of  which  Unity  the  infinite  manifestations  of  Nature  are  but 
infinite  aspects — may,  perhaps,  be  best  studied  on  this  plane  by  a  study  of  its 
purest  type — electricity.  Here  we  have  one  fluid  exhibiting  two  opposite 
states,  both  necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  fluid — or,  at  least,  to  its  mani- 
festation— apparently  ever  seeking  equilibrium,  yet  never  attaining  it;  caus- 
ing bodies  dissimilarly  "electrified"  to  madly  rush  together,  only  to  be  as 
violently  repelled  when  the  object  of  the  union  has  been  apparently  accom- 
plished; exhibiting  in  these  ceaseless  attractions  and  repulsions  a  giant  energy 
which,  when  chained  by  man,  makes  all  other  forces  yield  obeisance  to  it, 
and  when  chained  by  Nature  holds  stars  and  worlds  in  harmonious  motion. 
For  it  is  the  attraction  and  repulsion  of  that  mysterious  energy,  whose  action 
on  earth  we  see  manifested  as  electricity,  which  are  the  centrifugal  and  cen- 
tripetal forces  holding  the  planets  in  their  orbits,  and  of  which  the  ' '  gravita- 
tion" of  modern  science  expresses  but  one  mode  of  its  dual  action.  If  gravity 
were  a  single  force,  causing  material  bodies  to  "  attract  all  other  portions  of 
matter  with  a  force  directly  proportional  to  the  product  of  the  mass,  and 
inversely  proportional  to  the  square  of  the  distance  between  them,"  which  is 
the  statement  of  Newton's  law — and  which  also  expresses  the  law  of  magnetic 
or  electrical  attraction — then  would  those  bodies  known  as  comets  surely  fall 

*A  paper  read  by  the  author  at  the  Theosophical  Congress  of  the  World's  Parliament  of 
Religions,  at  Chicago,  Sep.  15,  1893. 


1 84  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

into  the  sun  upon  their  startlingly  near  approaches  to  the  latter,  in  describ- 
ing the  perihelion  of  their  orbits.  Their  mass  is  almost  infinitely  lighter  than 
that  of  the  sun,  and  if  Newton's  law  of  mass  and  distance  governing  the  "  pull' ' 
of  gravitation  were  true,  no  amount  of  accelerated  motion  due  to  momentum 
could  prevent  this  result.  This  fact  is  startliugly  apparent  when  they  pass 
perihelion  and  recede  from  the  enormous  attraction  of  the  sun — an  attraction 
which,  at  the  comparatively  immense  distance  of  the  earth,  represents  a  force 
acting  upon  this  planet  which  would  snap  in  twain  a  steel  rod  162  miles  in 
diameter  as  easily  as  a  cobweb.  In  the  fact  of  their  being  so  nearly  on  the 
same  plane  of  substance  as  the  sun  that  their  close  approach  permits  an  act- 
ual equilibrium  of  electrical  conditions,  thus  causing  them  to  become  similarly 
electrified,  and  bringing  the  repulsive  energy  of  the  electric  fluid  to  bear,  is  to 
be  found  the  reason  for  this  otherwise  inexplicable  phenomenon  of  their 
escape  upon  these  near  approaches. 

Applying  this  electrical  law  that  similarly  electrified  bodies  attract  one 
another,  while  those  dissimilarly  electrified  are  repelled,  gives  us  a  clue  not 
only  to  the  infinitely  small  question  of  the  manifestation  of  sex,  but  also  to 
the  infinitely  greater  one  of  the  eternal  manifestation  of  worlds  or  universes — 
a  reason,  scientific  and  logical,  for  the  alternate  periods  of  objective  and  sub- 
jective life,  which  Eastern  Philosophy  has  recognized,  and  describes  under  the 
beautiful  metaphor  of  the  "Days  and  Nights  of  Brahm."  For  this  endless 
Motion  or  Breath,  which  is  at  the  origin  of  all  life,  and  which  by  the  very  law 
of  its  own  existence  can  never  cease  its  eternal  action,  stands  revealed  as  to 
its  mode  of  motion,  however  incomprehensible  its  origin  may  be  to  us.  We 
can  perceive  that  this  law  of  electrical  attraction  and  repulsion,  thus  forever 
striving  to  restore  equilibrium,  only  to  utterly  destroy  this  when  attained,  is 
one  which,  even  if  it  acted  blindly  and  mechanically,  would  forever  forbid 
inaction,  death,  or  rest  taking  place  in  all  the  unthinkable  cycles  of  eternity. 
Physical  science  declares,  and  apparently  with  justice,  that  all  physical  forces 
tend  towards  final  equilibrium,  a  condition  which  Flainmarion  terms 
Absolute  Death,  and  when  all  the  suns  and  worlds  shall  have  died,  this 
scientist  speculates  upon  a  possible  new  origin  of  force  and  consequent  evolu- 
tion of  life  by  the  collision  of  two  dead,  wandering  suns !  Yet  the  law  of 
attraction  and  repulsion  shows  us  that  when  electrical  equilibrium  shall  have 
been  established  the  terrific  repulsion  of  bodies  all  similarly  electrified  will 
rend  every  molecule  asunder,  and  that  there  cannot  remain  one  single 
molecular  combination  of  matter  within  the  universe.  By  such  steps,  requir- 
ing almost  eternal  periods  of  time  for  their  enactment,  will  all  the  matter  of 
the  universe  seek  more  and  more  ethereal,  or — to  us — subjective  conditions, 
and  when  some  equally  incomprehensible  limit  of  motion  is  reached  in  this 
direction,  in  the  course  of  still  other  immeasurable  eternities,  a  universe  of 


REINCARNATION — THE  SEX  PROBLEM.  185 

matter  as  it  now  is,  will  reappear.  In  the  descending  sweep  of  this  mighty 
Motion  of  the  Great  Breath,  as  each  plane  of  substance  approaches  a  state  of 
equilibrium,  there  will  be  formed  connecting  points  between  this  and  the 
plane  towards  which  the  electric  vibrations  are  driving  matter — Laya  centers, 
the  Secret  Doctrine  calls  them,  points  which  are  dissimilar  in  their  electrical 
condition  to  all  the  matter  driven  to  a  lower  plane,  and  which  points,  there- 
fore, attract  the  matter  of  this  lower  plane  under  the  law  of  the  attraction  of 
dissimilars,  and  around  which  are  thus  built  slowly  and  after  many  "  wars  in 
heaven,"  suns  and  worlds.  Such  Laya  Centers,  positive  to  all  molecular 
matter,  and  in  the  state  of  suns,  pour,  in  the  descending  arc  of  evolution, 
mighty  streams  of  life  and  energy  which  are  thence  reflected  upon  and  give 
life  and  energy  to  their  planets  as  well  as  all  matter  upon  such  lower  planes. 
Yet  this  stream,  pouring  light,  heat,  and  life  upon  our  planetary  system 
through  our  sun,  carries  with  it  the  certainty  of  the  sometime  destruction  of 
that  to  which  it  now  gives  life,  when  the  state  of  equiliriubm  which  physical 
science  prophesies  shall  have  been  approximately  attained.  The  very  measure 
of  time  during  which  our  solar  system  will  endure  is  given,  had  we  but  skill 
to  compute  it,  in  the  motion  of  the  pith  balls  which  dance  between  the  poles 
of  the  electrical  toy.  For  the  fraction  of  a  second  required  for  equilibrium 
to  become  established  in  these  is  in  strictly  accurate  proportion  to  the  time 
required  for  the  same  condition  to  obtain  throughout  our  solar  system. 

All  this  may,  no  doubt,  seem  a  digression,  yet  a  proper  conception  of  this 
law  of  opposite  poles  or  opposing  states  of  the  same  force,  of  Duality  in  Unity, 
as  exemplified  in  the  electrical  law  of  attraction  and  repulsion,  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  proper  conception  of  the  relation  sex  bears  to  the  human  soul. 
We  can  perceive  that  as  the  electrical  energy  thus  vibrates  from  plane  to 
plane  of  substance  in  its  efforts  to  establish  an  Universal  equilibrium — an 
equilibrium  which  the  very  law  of  its  own  being  makes  possible  only  in 
infinity,  or  never — the  whole  Universe  will  thus  gradually  become  differen- 
tiated into  great  planes,  each  of  which  will  be  negative  to  that  above,  and 
positive  to  that  below.  We  can  also  perceive  that  on  any  plane  where  the 
process  of  electrical  equilibrium  is  in  active  progress  the  process  of  evolution 
is  of  necessity  also  in  active  progress.  Such  is  the  condition  of  our  Universe 
at  present,  in  which  there  are  no  two  molecules  exactly  similarly  electrified, 
and  in  which  the  matter,  in  a  state  of  unstable  equilibrium,  is  electrified,  con- 
trolled, and  ensouled  by  electrical  or  life  energy  from  a  higher  plane  which, 
compared  to  this  lower,  is  infinitely  more  stable.  Now  Consciousness,  Force, 
and  Substance  are  three  hypostases  of  the  One  Absolute  or  Unknowable,  and 
are  eternally  associated.  Therefore,  the  human  soul,  being  easily  demon- 
strable as  an  ego  or  entity  occupying  a  plane  of  consciousness  far  above  that 


1 86  A   STUDY    OF    THE   SOUL. 

of  the  moleculelar  cells  of  its  body,  is,  when  compared  with  the  unstable  con- 
dition of  the  latter,  on  a  plane  of  stable,  controlling  equilibrium.  On  its  own 
plane,  the  processes  of  evolution  or  of  equilibrium  having  been  completed  for 
the  cycle,  the  opposing  forces  of  duality  are  at  rest.  It  is  therefore  stable  and 
positive  to  its  body;  is  a  conscious  Laya  Centre,  so  to  speak,  through  which 
flows  consciousness  that  ensouls,  experiences,  and  controls  the  evolutionary 
modification  of  the  eternal  life-energy  seeking  equilibrium  on  the  plane  below, 
or  that  of  the  body.  Hence,  the  Human  Soul,  or  that  which  in  Theosophy  ia 
technically  known  as  the  Higher  Ego,  or  the  Reincarnating  Ego,  is  sexless. 
It  has  after  an  almost  infinite  cycle  of  duality  rebecome  Unity  on  its  own 
stable  plane,  and  that  differentiation  which  would  correspond  to  sex  upon  this 
is  unknown.  But  as  the  soul,  the  Pilgrim  in  the  Cycle  of  Necessity,  descends 
by  incarnating  in  these  human-animal  forms,  in  order  to  consciously  conquer 
this  plane  where  the  dual  action  of  the  One  Life,  or  evolution,  is  in  active 
operation,  it  has  of  necessity  to  incarnate  in  bodies  having  now  the  preponder- 
ance of  the  negative  and  again  of  the  positive  manifestations  of  the  One  Life. 
Hence,  though  being  itself  sexless,  it  incarnates  now  in  a  series  of  male  forms, 
and  again  in  a  series  of  female  forms,  in  its  necessarily  alternating  efforts  to 
bring  about  conscious  harmony  or  equilibrium  upon  the  molecular  plane.  It 
can  never  know  all  the  possibilities  of  life  or  of  consciousness  here  without 
touching  the  two  poles — without  thus  experiencing  here  the  two  aspects  of  the 
One  Life. 

Looked  at  from  this  higher  view-point,  the  sex  problem  is  solved.  Reincar- 
nating now  as  a  male  and  again  as  a  female,  the  human  soul  symmetrically 
widens  its  conscious  area  and  stores  the  results  of  these  experiences  in  both 
the  poles  of  existence  upon  its  own  stable  plane.  Therefore  is  all  the  talk  and 
all  the  hope  of  man  and  woman  becoming  similar  mentally,  or  in  any  other 
way,  except  as  countless  ages  of  evolution  shall  have  rounded  out  and  equi- 
librated both  aspects  of  life,  but  childish  babbling.  They  are  at  the  opposite 
poles  of  conscious  being  upon  this  plane — poles  which  can  never  meet  nor 
merge  here,  but  which  can  only  be  unified  when  the  sexless,  passionless 
human  soul  shall  have  acquired  all  necessary  or  possible  experiences;  when  it 
shall  have  completed  its  conscious  partaking  in,  and  supervision  of,  the  pro- 
cesses of  evolution  now  in  active  operation. 

Thus  by  recognizing  and  teaching  the  true  relations  our  souls  bear  to  our 
bodies,  that  upon  its  own  habitation  the  soul  is  sexless  and  passionless,  The- 
osophy offers  but  another  view-point  from  which  to  obtain  a  broader,  more 
philosophical  conception  of  human  life  and  its  duties,  responsibilities,  and 
opportunities.  The  recognition  of  the  law  of  Karma,  or  the  law  of  Cause  and 
Effect,  which  compels  the  further  recognition  of  the  fact  of  the  necessary 


REINCARNATION — THE  SEX  PROBLEM.         1 87 

reincarnation  of  the  human  soul  under  this  law,  will  restore  the  relation  of 
the  sexes  to  the  pure  and  holy  condition  from  which  it  has  been  degraded  by 
ignorance. 

All  churches  unite  in  declaring  marriage  to  be  a  sacrament,  but  which  of 
them  knows  or  teaches  why  this  is  so?  The  very  term  "sacrament"  has 
been  debauched  by  sensual  philologists  into  a  phallic  significance.  The  men- 
tal attitude  of  the  West  toward  the  sex  relation  is  simply  appalling.  Instead 
of  being  regarded  as  the  solemn,  sacrificial  avenue  through  which  a  human 
soul — a  future  god — returns  to  take  up  again  its  life  tasks;  instead  of  being 
limited  solely  and  religiously  to  procreative  purposes  for  thus  furnishing  holy 
and  pure  tenements  for  those  bound  to  us  by  the  tenderest  ties,  the  most  lov- 
ing associations,  in  past  lives — for  those  for  whom  we  would  have  died  then 
and  would  die  now  after  they  join  us — how  do  we  regard  it  ?  How  have  our 
very  priests  and  ministers  taught  us  to  regard  it  ?  Let  the  recommendation 
of  St.  Paul,  let  the  classic  couplet  of  Martin  Luther — holy  monk  and  Founder 
of  Protestantism — be  the  answer. 

Marriage  in  the  West  is  but  little  better  than  legalized  prostitution;  its  high 
and  holy  office  unrecognized;  its  pure,  creative  passion  brutalized,  sensual- 
ized and  entirely  perverted.  It  is  the  duty  and  the  mission  of  Theosophy  to 
correct  and  reform  all  this.  It  can  only  be  accomplished  by  and  through  our 
deeper  philosophy  of  human  life;  our  sterner,  higher  code  of  human  ethics. 
No  time-serving  Martin  Luther  nor  specious-pleading  St.  Paul  can  ever  dis- 
tort or  pervert  ethical  conceptions  founded  upon  demonstrable  laws  of  nature, 
together  with  the  most  satisfactory  logical  and  philosophical  deductions  and 
inductions  therefrom.  We  must  teach  the  West  to  recognize  in  woman  not 
the  weak,  passive  vehicle,  created  as  an  avenue  to  a  sensuous  Paradise,  but  a 
soul  transiently  at  the  opposite  pole  of  material  existence,  and  a  pole  which, 
of  necessity,  has  in  it  as  deep  a  significance,  as  god-like  potentialities,  as  that 
which  our  ignorant,  brutish  egotism  has  caused  us  to  regard  as  superior.  It 
must  be  recognized  that  the  sex  which  is  hers  in  this  life  may  be  ours  in  our 
next — must  be  ours  in  many  future  lives  ere  we  attain  a  symmetrical  evolu- 
tion of  character.  The  law  of  Karma,  ever  restoring  disturbed  equilibrium, 
is  omnipotent  and  inviolable;  and  by  our  very  attitude  towards  the  opposite 
sex,  be  it  that  of  man  or  woman,  we  are  creating  character  traits  which  may 
have  to  be  sharply  corrected  by  unpleasant  experiences  in  that  opposite  sex 
during  our  next  life. 

By  the  light  thus  afforded  from  the  standpoint  of  the  true  soul  must  the 
sex  relation  be  comprehended;  and,  once  rightly  understood,  few  teachings 
are  capable  of  a  more  quick,  more  sure  amelioration  of  a  vast  amount  of 
human  woe.  In  this  relation  we  consciously  take  at  least  a  minor  part  in  the 


1 88  A   STUDY    OF    THE    SOUL. 

creative  processes  of  nature;  we  claim  a  portion  of  our  future  heritage  as  gods 
and  guardians  of  lower  worlds.  Its  abuse,  therefore,  reaches  to  the  very 
depths  of  our  spiritual  being  in  its  karinic  effects.  I^et  the  gibbering  inmates 
of  insane  asylums,  let  the  wan  sufferers  from  nameless,  shameful,  terrible  dis- 
eases, testify  whether  this  is  true  or  not  upon  the  physical  plane;  let  our 
Police  records,  our  Divorce  Courts  answer  upon  the  moral  plane.  I/et  us  res- 
tore marriage  to  its  pristine  purity;  let  us  recognize  that  sex  is  of  this  plane 
only;  that  the  soul  ought  to — is  entitled  to — live  far  above  the  unreasoning 
desires  of  the  animal  kingdom  below  us,  to  which  and  even  lower  than  which 
we  descend  when  our  motive  is  but  sensuous  desire.  By  conquering  this 
t3rrant  which  we  have  invited  to  occupy  the  throne  of  our  mind,  we  shall  be 
free  to  use  the  creative  energy,  now  perverted  and  wasted,  upon  intellectual 
and  spiritual  planes.  So  shall  we  re-enter  the  Paradise  from  which  we  have 
been  expelled;  so  shall  we  reclaim  once  more  our  lost  heritage. 

"What  is  the  flaming  sword  but  sin, 

Which  blinds  our  eyes  at  Eden's  gates  ? 
Lo,  purity  shall  enter  in, 

Nor  fear  all  adverse  gods,  nor  fates!" 

And  we  shall  re-enter;  not  clothed  with  the  raiment  of  innocence,  which  is 
but  the  garment  of  ignorance,  but  with  that  infinitely  surpassing  it;  with 
robes  whose  web  is  the  shining  threads  of  perfect  knowledge,  and  which  is 
crossed  by  the  woof  of  purified  passions,  of  slain  desires,  of  upward  strivings, 
of  toilings  for  others,  of  daily  and  hourly  sacrificings  of  the  lower  to  the 
Higher  Self. 


APPENDIX  B. 

EMBRYOLOGY    AND  REINCARNATION 

WHILE  not  falling  strictly  within  the  purpose  of  this  work,  there  are  cer- 
tain facts  connected  with  the  very  beginnings  of  physical  life  that  are  of 
sufficient  interest  and  importance  to  merit  brief  notice.     For  these  facts  the 
world  is  indebted  to  scientific  investigation;  for  the  explanation  of  them,  it 
must  look  to  the  philosophies  of  the  East. 

All  life  in  the  organic  kingdoms  of  nature  proceeds  from  a  cell;  this  cell 
being  in  essence  a  unit  body  of  Protoplasm.  Subjected  to  chemical  analysis 
after  death,  Protoplasm  differs  in  its  chemical  constituents  in  no  wise  from 
matter  undoubtedly  belonging  to  the  so-called  inorganic  kingdom  beneath, 
thus  showing  plainly  that  in  matter  itself  is  not  to  be  found  the  cause  of  the 
subsequent  evolution  of  form  and  function;  but  that  something  besides  mere 


EMBRYOLOGY,   AND   REINCARNATION.  189 

chemical  properties  has  been  added  to  the  material  molecules.  This  is  further 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  chief  difference  in  the  simple  protozoic  or  proto- 
phytic  cell  and  the  highly  organized  and  synthesized  plant  or  animal  consists 
in  the  fact  that  in  the  cell  the  function  is  complex,  while  in  the  plant  or  ani- 
mal it  is  the  form..  The  beginnings  of  life  thus  traced  down  to  the  unit  cell 
of  Protoplasm  seems  a  very  simple  and  basic  starting  point,  when  in  fact,  it 
is  the  form  only  which  has  become  simplified,  the  function  has  been  plunged 
into  a  more  intricate  maze  of  obscurity.  That  which  in  the  higher  organism 
was  the  work  of  hosts  of  differentiated  cells  and  complex  organs,  is  in  the  cell 
all  accomplished  without  any  such  aid;  the  simple,  unorganized,  undifferenti- 
ated  speck  of  Protoplasm  performing  many  of  the  complex  and  all  of  the  nec- 
essary functions  of  life  without  any  of  that  specialization  of  labor  in  the  com- 
plex form.  Desiring  to  change  its  locality,  limbs  are  protruded  for  the  occa- 
sion; feeling  hungry,  a  temporary  stomach  is  manufactured,  and  so  on;  all 
the  varied  functions  of  locomotion,  nutrition,  reproduction,  digestion,  with 
many  others,  being  done  by  means  of  the  same  undifferentiated  protoplasmic 
substance,  showing  clearly  that  there  is  an  inner  power  merely  using  the  Pro- 
toplasm to  exhibit  these  functions.  It  is  thus  seen  that  the  function  which 
seemed  so  simple  when  the  form  was  complex  has  almost  passed  beyond  the 
possibility  of  explanation  when  the  form  in  turn  has  become  simple. 

It  is  evident  that  the  idea  of  all  subsequent  evolution  of  form  is  potentially 
present  in  the  first  simple  cell,  and  that  all  modification  or  differentiation 
which  follows  is  but  the  slow  expression  of  this  ideal  potency  in  form.  There- 
fore, an  entity  utterly  without  experience  upon  this  plane  would  of  necessity 
begin  in  the  humblest  forms,  and  only  very  gradually  modify  these  as  the  re- 
sult of  widened  conscious  experience.  The  fact  that  in  the  lowly  forms  of  life 
the  function  greatly  exceeds  the  form  in  complexity,  shows  conclusively  that 
there  is  an  inner  entity  synthesizing  these  functions,  and  that  evolution  in  all 
its  phases  is  but  the  outer  response  to  the  inner  idea,  and,  as  ideas  necessitate 
an  ideator,  an  inner  entity  is  therefore  necessitated. 

In  these  humblest  beginnings  of  life,  too,  are  to  be  found  many  analogies  to 
and  confirmations  of  the  tenet  of  Theosophy  that  everything  in  the  Universe 
proceeds  out  of  Unity  and  will  rebecome  Unity  when  the  Universe  disappears 
objectively  and  enters  upon  its  subjective  cycle,  or  Pralaya.  In  its  first  differ- 
entiation or  manifestation  this  Unity  evolved  Duality,  which  Duality,  together 
with  the  Force  which  brought  it  about,  constitute  the  three  Basic  Aspects  or 
Hypostases  of  the  Absolute.  Transposing  these  terms  to  the  physical  plane, 
in  Protoplasm  may  be  recognized  the  analogue  of  Primordial  Substance;  it 
being,  in  its  relation  to  this  plane,  homogeneous  and  capable  of  differentiation 
into  any  organic  form,  no  matter  how  complex  the  latter  may  be.  The  intel- 
ligence which  guides  and  the  force  which  brings  about  further  evolutionary 
processes  are  the  correspondences  to  the  Conscious- Aspect  and  Force-Aspect 
of  the  Causeless  Cause,  respectively. 

Taking  up  some  of  the  processes  of  Embryology,  we  can  find  therein  the 


A   STUDY   OF  THE   SOUL. 

analogies  to  the  Creative  processes  upon  even  the  highest  planes.  Thus  the 
Basic  Unity  is  shown  in  the  unit  cell  of  protoplasm;  duality  supervenes  in  its 
first  and  entirely  inexplicable  fission.  In  its  further  differentiation  into  ecto- 
derm, endoderm  and  mesoderm,  there  is  a  purely  physical  correspondence  of 
a  law  which  obtains  upon  the  plane  of  the  very  highest  differentiation.  In 
the  central  development  of  Spencer,  may  be  recognized  the  archaic  symbol  of 
the  Point  in  the  Circle;  in  the  axial,  the  point  has  become  a  line  or  diameter, 
and  so  on.  The  symbology  of  the  Bast  becomes  luminous  with  meaning  once 
it  is  intelligently  applied  to  nature's  processes. 

Within  and  because  of  this  Primordial  Duality  arise  all  of  those  polar  oppo- 
sites,  such  as  attraction  and  repulsion,  positive  and  negative  states,  spirit  and 
matter,  and — upon  the  purely  physical  plane — male  and  female.  That  sex  is 
a  differentiation  upon  the  physical  plane  only,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  all 
reproduction  is  at  first  purely  asexual.  Sex,  upon  this  plane,  corresponds  to 
a  principle  which  causes  differentiation  upon  those  higher.  As  the  Proto- 
plasm responds  more  and  more  to  the  inner  energy,  there  is  first  the  cell  spec- 
ialization for  the  reproductive  act,  and  then  this  differentiation,  with  many 
variants  and  partial  reversions  to  the  primal  type,  becomes  extended  to  indi- 
viduals. Sexual  differentiation  is  but  another  instance  of  the  widening  of 
conscious  area  through  experience  of  the  "pairs  of  opposites."  As  a  purely 
physical  process,  the  theory  of  anabolic  and  katabolic  differentiation  of  en- 
ergy very  probably  explains  its  origin;  but  the  inner  cause  of  the  anabolism 
and  katabolism  is  still  as  much  a  mystery  as  ever  unless  we  recognize  the 
inner  entity  undergoing  conscious  experience  in  the  only  school  and  by  the 
sole  method  of  which  we  can  conceive — that  of  experience  of  the  "  opposites," 
by  virtue  of  which  the  very  Universe  itself  exists.  Sex  exemplifies  the  posi- 
tive and  negative  forces  or  aspects  of  the  Absolute  upon  the  purely  physical 
plane. 

That  there  is  an  inner  entity  thus  continuously  widening  its  conscious  area 
through  evolution  is  the  only  logical  deduction  from  the  phenomena  of  evolu- 
tion itself.  All  of  that  careful  examination  and  cautious  ratiocination  by 
which  it  is  proven  that  the  fowl,  for  instance,  has  been  evolved  from  the  fish, 
only  emphasizes  the  fact  that  it  must  be  the  same  inner  entity  which  was  the 
fish,  and  which  is  now  the  fowl.  If  it  has  been  necessary  to  take  the  first 
steps  towards  constructing  a  bird  by  building  a  fish  form,  this  proves  that  the 
idea  of  the  bird  was  present,  and  slowly  modifying  the  fish  throughout  its 
entire  existence  as  a  fish.  To  disconnect  the  fish  from  the  bird  for  a  single 
moment  is  to  overthrow  the  entire  evolutionary  process.  If  the  one  is  really 
the  modification  of  the  other,  then  both  throughout  their  respective  evolu- 
tionary cycles  are  as  much  the  same  entity  as  are  the  child  and  the  man,  or 
the  butterfly  and  the  caterpillar.  Either  they  are  connected  causally  by 
the  evolutionary  modification  of  the  one  from  the  other,  or  they  are  not. 
If,  as  evolution  declares,  they  are  thus  connected,  then  it  is  the  same  entity 
which  has,  during  the  whole  period,  been  slowly  evolving  differing  and 


EMBRYOLOGY,  AND  REINCARNATION.          19! 

more     perfect   forms.      There   is  no    logical   escape    from  this   conclusion. 

Without  pursuing  further  the  subject  of  reproduction  in  general,  there  are 
many  facts  in  human  embryological  detail  which  go  to  prove  that  this  process 
is  a  specific  obedience  of  the  outer  Protoplasm  to  an  inner,  intelligent  force. 
Among  these  is  the  wonderful  response  of  the  uterus  to  the  stimulation  of  the 
developing  embryo.  If  this  were  a  purely  mechanical  stimulation,  due  to  the 
presence  of  the  embryo,  other  foreign  bodies  ought  to  call  out  the  same  or  a 
similar  response.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  The  womb  will  quickly  expel  any 
invader  of  its  cavity;  even  a  tumor  in  its  walls  is  often  extruded  as  a 
polypus.  Instead,  however,  of  attempting  to  expel  the  fecundated  cell,  every 
effort  is  made  by  the  uterus  to  retain  and  nourish  it.  There  is  poured  out  from 
the  uterine  walls  an  abundant  supply  of  the  most  highly  nutritious,  albumin- 
ous pabulum  from  which  the  growing  embryo  builds  its  marvelously  perfect 
body;  each  tissue  under  the  guidance  of  the  inner  entity  differentiating  out  of 
the  common  protoplasmic  stock. 

At  this  point,  perhaps,  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to  the  grossly  incor- 
rect "scientific"  teaching  concerning  the  nutrition  of  the  fetus,  if  but  to  show 
how  carefully  one  must  examine  even  the  most  unquestioned  scientific  state- 
ments if  he  would  avoid  steering  into  the  Chary bdis  of  dogmatic  assertion  in 
endeavoring  to  keep  clear  of  the  Scyllae  of  ignorance.  This  teaching  is  to  the 
effect  that  the  fetus  is  nourished  through  the  placenta.  The  true  modus  ofier- 
andi  was  discovered  by  the  author  during  a  series  of  experiments  extending 
over  i882-'83,  and  was  first  published  in  the  American  Journal  oj  Obstetrics  in 
1884,  in  a  paper  entitled  "  A  New  Theory  of  Fetal  Nutrition,"  from  which  I 
shall  freely  quote.  This  theory  is,  that  once  conception  has  taken  place  the 
fetus  is  nourished  by  absorbtion  of  nutritive  material  secreted  and  poured  into 
the  uterine  cavity  from  its  walls,  and  that  the  office  of  the  placenta  is  purely 
respiratory,  or  an  oxygen  carrier  and  carbonic  acid  gas  remover.  The  facts 
which  prove  this  to  be  the  correct  view  are: 

i.  The  constant  presence  of  nutritive  subtances  in  the  amniotic  fluid  during 
the  entire  period  of  gestation.  2.  The  certainty  of  this  fluid  being  absorbed 
by  a  developing  fetus  constantly  bathed  in  it.  3.  The  permeability  of  the 
digestive  tract  at  an  early  period,  and  the  necessary  entrance  therein,  according 
to  the  laws  of  hydrostatics,  of  the  albuminous  amniotic  fluid.  4.  The  presence 
of  meconium  in  the  intestine,  urine  in  the  bladder,  and  bile  in  the  upper  intes- 
tine— all  in  their  normal  locations.  5.  The  mechanical  difficulties  opposing 
direct  nutrition  through  the  placenta.  6.  The  absence  of  a  placenta  until  the 
third  month,  and  its  entire  absence  in  the  non-placental  mammalia.  7.  The 
maternal  source  of  the  fluid,  as  shown  by  the  hydrorrhceas,  etc.,  of  pregnancy. 

The  presence  of  meconium — a  residue  after  absorbtive  digestion — and  of 
urine  and  bile,  are  all  incompatible  with  the  theory  of  nutritive  material  being 
conveyed  to  the  embryo  through  the  placenta;  but  the  most  prominent  fact 
enumerated  above  is  the  constant  presence  of  albumen  in  the  amniotic  fluid. 
This  constant  presence  means  that  it  is  not  accidental.  One  of  the  most 


192  A   STUDY   OF   THE   SOUL. 

plausible  theories  as  to  the  uses  of  the  amniotic  fluid  is  that  it  constitutes  a 
kind  of  water  cushion  to  protect  the  embryo  from  mechanical  injury.  This  is 
no  doubt  one  use.  But  if  this  were  all  we  would  not  find  nature  supplying  a  very 
precious  and  costly — to  the  mother — ingredient,  or  albumen.  This  would  be 
worse  than  a  blunder.  Tt  would  be  a  crime  against  maternity.  If  we  suppose, 
with  Lusk  and  a  host  of  other  authors,  that  the  source  of  this  fluid  "  is  at  first 
simply  an  exudate  from  the  tissues  of  the  fetus, ' '  and,  later,  c '  urine  secreted 
and  voided  by  the  fetus,"  we  have  the  highly  "scientific"  anomaly  of  a  fetus 
developing  a  benignant  Bright's  disease,  voiding  urine  containing  as  high  as 
three  per  cent,  of  albumen,  and  growing  fat  and  sturdy  under  conditions 
surely  fatal  to  an  adult  subjected  to  a  similar  drain.  In  short,  the  further  one 
searches  for  the  origin  and  uses  of  the  amniotic  fluid  the  wilder  all  hypothe- 
ses become,  unless  we  accept  the  simplest  explanation — almost  invariably  the 
best — that  it  is  secreted  by  the  intra-uterine  surfaces  for  the  nourishment  of 
the  fetus. 

Accepting  this,  the  correspondence  of  the  macrocosmic  and  microcosmic 
processes  is  apparent.  The  womb  represents  Cosmic  Space — the  universal 
matrix.  The  fecundated  egg  focalizes,  synthesizes  and  transmutes  or  trans- 
fers to  the  material  plane  the  subjective  force  of  the  reincarnating  entity. 
From  this  "point in  the  circle"  exudes  not  the  physical  but  the  spiritual 
amniotic  fluid,  the  force  which  causes  the  physical  fluid  to  flow  from  the 
uterine  walls,  or,  in  the  macrocosm,  from  Cosmic  Space.  Following  the  suc- 
cessive upward  steps  in  the  building  of  its  bundle  of  material  sense  organs, 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  each  specific  process  but  exemplifies  a  general  law  in 
nature.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  eye  is  built  up  with  all  its  nicety  of 
optical  detail  and  physiological  capacity  for  psychological  use  without  ever 
having  received  a  single  impulse  from  those  light  waves  to  which  science 
would  fain  teach  us  it  is  a  specific  response.  Granite  boulders  have  been  sub- 
jected to  the  daily  stimulation  of  direct  light  waves  for  untold  ages;  why  are 
they  not  studded  with  eyes?  Similarly  with  hearing.  Not  only  is  an 
exquisitely  perfect  organ  built  up  in  the  absence  of  all  but  very  indistinct 
sounds,  but  this  organ  remains  incapable  of  hearing  until  certain  post-natal 
processes  have  taken  place.  And  so  on;  not  only  each  sense  organ,  but  also 
the  entire  form,  is  constructed  in  specific  response  to  an  inner  directing  energy. 
It  is  the  return  to  incarnation  of  an  entity  having  the  spiritual  potentialities 
of  sense  perception,  which  become  potencies  through  the  opportunity  afforded 
by  fecundation  and  gestation.  There  is  no  other  rational  explanation  for  the 
function  building  the  form  except  as  the  effect  of  an  inner  entity  having  such 
function  in  potentia,  if  not  in  actu, 

Thus  process  after  process  in  embryology  might  be  taken  up  and  the  pres- 
ence of  the  inner,  designing  entity  proven;  but  enough  has  been  pointed  out 
to  indicate  the  train  of  reasoning  which  is  to  be  applied  to  them  all,  should 
anv  desire  to  carry  their  investigations  further  than  is  possible  in  this  brief 
and  sketchy  appendix. 


14  DAY  USE 

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